Pinker Pinker joins Black Caviar among the Futurity Stakes entries

Connections of 16 horses will be sweating on Black Caviar's Coolmore Lightning Stakes recovery ahead of Wednesday morning's Futurity Stakes acceptance deadline.

That's how many horses sat alongside the champion mare when nominations for the $500,000 Group 1, to be run at Caulfield this Saturday, closed at midday.

Immediately after Black Caviar's second straight Lightning success, trainer Peter Moody doubted her ability to recover in time to tackle this weekend's 1400-metre event, but she has surprised him to the point that he was happy to submit a Futurity Stakes entry.

Moody will monitor her condition closely and make a decision on whether she starts for the third weekend in a row before Wednesday's 10am Futurity Stakes acceptance deadline.

The uncertainty regarding the champion mare's Futurity status has meant trainers who might not previously have had the race on the agenda are now considering it.

Sydney sensation Rain Affair, a winner of his past eight starts and nine of 10 overall, has been entered for the Futurity along with the $250,000 Group 2 Apollo Stakes over the same distance at Sydney's Rosehill Gardens.

The Chris Waller-trained Shoot Out, David Payne's Centennial Park, Niwot from the Team Hawkes stable and the Todd Howlett-trained Star Of Octagonal are the others nominated for both the Futurity and the Apollo.

One horse likely to line up in the Futurity, with or without Black Caviar, is Pinker Pinker. Trainer Greg Eurell has long intended to start the Cox Plate winner's 2012 campaign in the Futurity and she is among the entries.

Top Kiwi milers King Mufhasa and Wall Street have also been entered, along with Group 1 winners Playing God, Scenic Shot and Eagle Falls.

The Futurity Stakes will be the most anticipated race on Saturday's nine-race card if Black Caviar gets the green light to start, but it won't be the richest race on the day.

That honour rests with the $1 million Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) for two-year-olds, in which 66 horses remain in contention with the final field to be known tomorrow morning ahead of the barrier draw later that afternoon.

Victoria's premier juvenile event is one of three Group 1s on the Melbourne Racing Club's signature card of the Melbourne Festival of Racing. Rounding out the elite-level events is Caulfield's premier sprint race, the $400,000 Sportingbet Oakleigh Plate, which has attracted 21 nominations.

Headline act is superstar three-year-old Sepoy, a winner of 10 of his 11 starts including the Golden Slipper, who is poised to have his final run before heading to Dubai to continue his career in the Northern Hemisphere.

But the Peter Snowden-trained colt will have a formidable set of rivals to contend with if he does run with rising star Bel Sprinter, defending champion Eagle Falls, triple Group 1 winner Yosei, Golden Slipper placegetter Elite Falls and the untapped African Pulse among his potential rivals.

In addition to three Group 1s, Saturday's card includes a trio of Group 2 events, headed by the $200,000 Peter Young Stakes (1800m), which will be run for the first time under that name having previously been run as the St George Stakes.

The traditional lead-up to the $1 million Dubai Australian Cup has attracted 19 entries, including leading Cup contenders Southern Speed, Lucas Cranach, Manighar, Illo, Glass Harmonium and Midas Touch.

The three-year-old fillies will chase $180,000 in the Angus Armanasco Stakes (1400m), with Kiwi star Anabandana and in-form locals Soft Sand and Shopaholic among the entries, while So You Think's half-brother Now You Know is one of 13 nominees for the $180,000 Autumn Classic for the three-year-old boys.

The other Black Type event on Saturday's card is the $125,000 Group 3 TBV Mannersism Stakes (1400m), for which Pinker Pinker has been entered as a precaution, alongside Sydney visitor Vintedge and Hi Belle.

Fields for all races bar the Blue Diamond will be drawn on Wednesday morning with the full list of nominations available here

- Racing Victoria