As undeniably magnificent as Black Caviar's 17-win streak may be, the lack of opposition in many of her races has prompted questions about the merit of some of her victories.

It is an issue that has been put into perspective by Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter who rates Black Caviar the horse of the century.

In 13 of her wins, Black Caviar has beaten fields of less than 10 runners with five or fewer opponents lining up against her in five of them.

But Carpenter rejects any suggestion that the quantity and quality of the horses she has beaten detracts from her record.

Carpenter says the enduring legend of Phar Lap puts any such notion to rest.

``It was just the same for Phar Lap, and no-one regards him as anything but an outstanding champion,'' Carpenter said.

In 31 of his 36 Australian wins, Phar Lap faced six or fewer opponents.

Fifteen of those wins came in fields of four or less and in five of the victories he had only two rivals.

``The legend of Black Caviar cannot be diminished by the number or the quality of the opposition,'' he said.

Black Caviar has what may well be her penultimate start in Australia in the C. F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday when her impact will be gauged by the Melbourne Racing Club's offer of free entry to the course.

She will run again in the Futurity Stakes at the same course two weeks later and then be prepared for an international mission that seems likely to include a run in next month's group 1 Golden Shaheen (1200m) in Dubai as well as the group 1 King's Stand Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot in June.

While Carpenter is all for Black Caviar enhancing her record internationally, he believes she has nothing to prove by going to the world.

Black Caviar's official ranking as the world's champion sprinter in each of the past two years is enough, he said.

But she is also the highest-rated mare in the world in the modern era and the highest-ranked sprinter since international classifications came into being.

``The rest of the world already knows about her, he said.''