Victoria’s very own world champion Black Caviar and her relations dominated the Victorian Owners and Breeders Awards in Melbourne on Thursday night.

Not surprisingly, Eliza Park’s stallion Bel Esprit (Royal Academy), the sire of Black Caviar and fellow Group 1 winner Bel Sprinter took out Champion Sire for the sixth successive year.

Helsinge (Desert Sun), dam of Black Caviar as well as her champion brother All Too Hard (Casino Prince), won the Champion Broodmare award.

To top it off, Gilgai Farm at Nagambie, run by the champion mare’s breeder Rick Jamieson, won the Leading Victoria Breeder for the third consecutive year.

Premier of Victoria and Minister for Racing, Denis Napthine was on hand to help celebrate the success and growth of the Victorian thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

“These awards recognise the dedication, commitment and hard work of breeders in Victoria over the past season,” Dr Napthine said.  “The awards are also an acknowledgment of the invaluable contribution made by owners to the Victorian racing industry.”

Dr Napthine said the breeding industry is a major contributor to the economy, particularly in regional areas.  “Hundreds of millions of dollars of expenditure and many hundreds of jobs are generated annually by the thoroughbred breeding industry – mostly in regional Victoria,” Dr Napthine said.

“The Victorian Coalition Government is a strong supporter of the breeding industry. We are providing funding of $6.80 million over four years for the highly successful VOBIS Gold incentive scheme which helps to grow the economic benefits arising from the industry.”