Black Caviar to miss Spring Carnival

Monday 30 July 2012

By Geoffrey Riddle

A decision about whether Black Caviar is to be retired will be taken in September after Peter Moody ruled out any participation for the world’s best sprinter in Melbourne’s Spring Carnival.

Black Caviar ran well below standard when just scraping home in the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot last month and only returned to Australia a few weeks ago.

The decision will be taken after the Australian horse of the year awards, where all of the mare’s syndicate owners will meet.

“We can sit down and have a good discussion about what to do with her," Peter Moody, the trainer, said.

"We have two options. If we retire her after that meeting she's still got plenty of time to go to stud. Otherwise we will give her a decent spell and bring her back for the autumn," he added, in an interview with the Herald Sun.

Black Caviar took her unbeaten tally to 22 runs when accounting for the French pair Moonlight Cloud and Restiardargent at the Royal Meeting.

She officially ran 15lbs below her Australian rating, which is the equivalent to seven lengths.

Moody reported after the race that his charge was very tender in her hind-quarters but the injury was simply restricted to soft tissue damage.

"She's just needed time to get over her trip to England. She's had a really busy time in the past year or so and just needs a break to get over it," Moody said.

"She's fine in herself and she's recovered from her injuries, but it would be asking a lot of her to have only a couple of weeks off and then be ready for the spring."