Champion mare Black Caviar has been retired.
The world's best racehorse, Black Caviar, has been retired. Photo by: Steve Hart.
The world’s best galloper will have no swan song, her glittering career ending at 25 unbeaten starts.
The six-year-old has bowed out at the top of her game, defeating the best line up of sprinters the nation could assemble in Saturday’s TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick.
Trainer Peter Moody said there was nothing physically preventing Black Caviar from racing on but both he and connections wanted to see her finish at her best.
“The owners and ourselves have had a long chat over the past couple of days. We decided 25 is a great number,” Moody said.
“We thought long and hard about racing on for another season, we thought about Ascot, we thought about Brisbane, we thought about Adelaide.
“We believe she’s done everything we’ve asked her to do and it’s the right time to call it a day on one of the best horses we’ve ever seen.
“You wouldn’t want to see anything happen to the horse. Let’s stop now while nothing can go wrong.”
Moody said there were no complications coming out of Saturday’s TJ Smith win where she eclipsed the record of the legendary Kingston Town when scoring an incredible 15th Group 1 win.
“She’s probably never looked better in her career,” he said.
“She’s in such great shape and that’s the way we wanted her to bow out.”
Managing owner Neil Werrett thanked all those who have been involved with Black Caviar but said it was now time to look towards the next chapter of her life.
Discussions on who will be the first stallion to serve Australia’s latest addition to the broodmare ranks will begin tomorrow.
“We’ve got a bit of time to decide but we’ll start thinking about that from tomorrow probably,” Werrett said.
With her retirement taking place in Australia, it rules out, at least for the time being, a date with British super horse Frankel.
While the all-conquering mare will not race again, fans will get one final chance for a glimpse at the superstar when she parades at Caulfield on Saturday.
Bought for $210,000 as a yearling, Black Caviar amassed more than $7 million in prizemoney from her 25 wins.
