‘Simply the best’: Champion mare Black Caviar, who captivated the nation, dies

Trainer Peter Moody has paid an emotional tribute to Australian horse racing’s greatest sprinter, the unbeaten Black Caviar, who died yesterday shortly after giving birth to a foal.

The mare, who won all her 25 starts – 15 at group 1 level – including a nail-biting win at Royal Ascot in 2012, was humanely euthanised at the Scone Equine Hospital in NSW on Saturday morning after suffering the hoof disease laminitis.

Luke Nolen aboard Black Caviar in 2013.Credit: Jenny Evans

Moody yesterday described the champion horse as being like a “a big teddy bear”.

He said he had been looking through pictures of his children playing with the great mare when she spelled at their South Belgrave property.

“At the stables and at the races, she was all business and you didn’t want to be messing with her,” Moody said.

“At home, it was like you flicked the switch, and she was like a big teddy bear.”

The Queen requested a private audience with Black Caviar when the unbeaten mare went to Royal Ascot in 2012.Credit: Getty Images

Speaking at Caulfield yesterday about her death, he said: “You don’t think it affects you. But you are being stupid not to think it doesn’t.

“It’s impossible not to get attached to most animals let alone one like her.

“She had a milk infection about a week ago, and we just treated it like you do with all broodmares, But, like a lot of treatments, it went straight to her feet. Basically, it killed her feet.

“She had the foal this morning, a colt foal by Snitzel, and they put her down shortly after that on humane grounds. They scanned her feet yesterday and there was no blood flow at all to her feet. There was minimum blood flow to her feet anyhow, but there was none and she’s such a big girl.

“I rang all the staff and told them. They were all very upset. She was a remarkable horse who gave us all the ride of a lifetime and wonderful memories.”

Black Caviar captivated the nation during her winning streak, with millions of people following her success and thousands flocking to racecourses to get a glimpse of her in action. She was named the world’s best sprinter four times, as well as Australian racehorse of the year three times.

Moody said the mare was so dominant at the peak of her unbeaten career that she was almost bad for business.

He became so well-known outside the racing world that people thought she was the only horse he trained, he said.

“I used to work hard to promote the fact we were still winning 150 to 200 races a year and Black Caviar was only winning five of them because people thought we were putting all our efforts into one horse, which wasn’t the case.

“But for an outsider looking in I could see how that would have been the case.”

Black Caviar’s ownership group – the Madden, Hawkes, Wilkie, Taylor and Werrett families – released a statement on Saturday to say they were devastated. She died a day before her birthday, August 18, when she would have turned 18.

“The ownership group would like to thank all those who cared for Black Caviar during her racing career and during her retirement, including vets Amy Duff, Joan Carrick, and the team at Scone Equine Hospital led by Troy Butt and Peter Carrigan, Mick Malone and Pauline Alix together with the whole team at North, Peter Moody and his racing team for their care through her racing career and jockey Luke Nolen for successfully guiding her to 23 of her 25 wins,” the statement said.

Black Caviar raced and won in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and England. Her crowning moment came when she famously won the 2012 group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot.

She famously wore a specially constructed pressure suit for her flights to England, with every precaution taken for her Ascot trip.

Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson said news of the death came as a shock.

“Black Caviar was more than a champion racehorse, she was an important part of life for many people,” he said.

“The VRC was privileged to have Black Caviar race at Flemington and to have the Lightning Stakes named after her in 2013, a race she won three times including the first year it was named in her honour.

Trainer Peter Moody with Black Caviar after her win at Royal Ascot in 2012.Credit: Getty Images

“She was simply the best.”

Black Caviar retired in 2013, having won $7,953,936 in prizemoney.

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