Black Caviar- Famous Race Horse
Black Caviar boasts a record unrivalled in Australian racing history.
Yet, for the wonder mare and the horse commonly called “Nelly” by those closest to her, it appeared, despite many calls that each appearance could be her last, and that there would have been no end to her unparalleled career any time soon, after this, her 25th victory last Saturday.
Yesterday’s announcement that Black Caviar had run her last race, came as a shock to us all, and is proof that all good things, have to eventually come to an end.
After 25 starts, in which she was unbeaten, trainer Peter Moody and her owners took the tough decision that all sporting greats or their minders are eventually confronted with. Pete Moody made this announcement;
“The owners of Black Caviar and myself have had a long chat over the last couple of days. A decision was taken and we have decided that 25 was a great number,” Peter Moody said.
“Black Caviar did us all proud on Saturday. Collectively, we decided the mare’s in great shape. We thought long and hard about racing Black Caviar for another season.
But, where is Black Caviar’s rightful place in the pantheon of Australia’s equine athletes?
What makes her unique is her invincibility. In the modern era, there is no horse can lay claim to the 
number and quality of races Black Caviar has triumphed in.
Her wins have been at metropolitan racecourses and, with the exception of the two-year-old handicap where she made her debut in at Flemington on April 18, 2009, they have all been in graded races.
Having banked $7,953,936 in prize money, and having been crowned twice as Australian Horse of the Year, Black Caviar and has placed herself at the top of the world rankings.
In winning 15 races at Group I level, Black Caviar surpassed the Group I record of Kingston Town
that stood for more than 30 years and eight of these were won in succession, earning her a comparison to the legendary 1940′s sprinter Bernborough.
Given that Black Caviar was able to fight through her pain barrier when injured in running to beat the best Europe that was able to assemble at Ascot last June only adds to her story’s glitter and glamour.
Black Caviar has captured the imagination of many nation’s sport lovers, not to mention members of younger and older generations, all caught up in and captured with the romantic tale of the unbeatable horse. Well ….. Black Caviar is it !
Phar Lap with jockey Jim Pike riding at Flemington race track c 1930 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
She seems to have divided the veteran racegoers, who all tend to measure the great horses against Phar Lap. She has been compard to Vain.
Vain was beaten twice in his 14 starts, but he won the Golden Slipper at two and in the spring of 1969 won three times during Melbourne Cup week. The old-school punters would argue Black Caviar would not beat Vain and Manikato, king of the sprinters in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and that they would beat her in seven out of 10 clashes.
Racing survives on opinion. The more varied the better the dividend. Back in the day, trainers could administer steroids and many substances prohibited under today’s rules that now demand a horse be brought to the races drug-free. Initially in earlier years they were fundamentally big-boned stock of colonial stallions and mares, none of these fine-legged athletes with the blueblood of shuttle stallions and the imported mares of today.
You cannot compare eras, but you can appreciate the stock and the breeding of them. The fans of any sport are influenced at a young age by the stars of the day and judgement is often skewed and related back to the star of the day or era.
“We’re all extremely grateful we’ve been touched by this horse,” Moody said of Black Caviar. We as appreciative horse lovers can all acknowledge his statement.
Black Caviar now goes on to the next phase of her racing life, as a brood mare.
Senior part-owner Neil Werrett said no thought had yet been given to which stallion she will visit this spring.
Many are speculating on the breeding and birth of a Super-Horse, if a mating is arranged between Black Caviar and Frankel.
“We’ve got a bit of time, but we’ll start working it out tomorrow,” Werrett said.
BTC Cup – Black Caviar (Photo credit: Gone Galloping)
“In three years or so we will have Peter train her first foal.”
Black Caviar will parade on Saturday at Caulfield, her home during the time which she has drawn audiences and headlines to a sport that can never get enough of either.
An unbeaten champion, an inspiration to us all both with her racing prowess and her beauty, Black Caviar is an un-matched champion of our modern times.
It is with a strong sense of poignency that I write this article, as the beauty, heart, strength and love of racing that this magnificent horse demonstrated will not soon grace this world again.
