AUSTRALIA’S CHAMPION MARE Black Caviar, widely considered one of the world’s greatest flat horses, was retired today.
The six-year-old, who was unbeaten in a career of 25 consecutive wins and won over €6 million in prize money, will now begin a lucrative breeding career.
“We thought long and hard about racing on but believe she has done everything we asked of her and felt it was the right time to call time on her wonderful career,” trainer Peter Moody said.
“She’s in great shape and that’s the way we wanted her to bow out. We just thought the time was right… it was a hard decision.”
One of her finest hours came when she travelled across the world to Royal Ascot last June and beat a top international field in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
That trip took its toll and it was several months before Black Caviar was back to her old self.
But she showed her resilience to smash a quality field of sprinters in the TJ Smith Stakes in Sydney on Saturday, prompting talk of an Ascot return or the possibility she would race on in Australia for another season.
“We got three more runs than we thought we were ever going to have,” Moody said. “We thought she would be retired post-Ascot.
“But we’ve been fortunate to bring her home here and I think the owners are to be congratulated on allowing me to race her on and give the Australian public three more opportunities to see her.”
Part-owner Neil Werrett would not speculate on who her stallion might be amid rumours that it could be Frankel, another of the world’s top racehoreses.
“We’ve got a bit of time to decide. We’ll start thinking about that probably from tomorrow,” he said.
