As we saddle up for another epic Spring Racing Carnival, a new book, Immortals of Australian Horse Racing, recounts the incredible stories behind Australia’s most legendary racehorses. This edited extract takes a look at the career of one of the greatest – aka the Queen of the Turf – BLACK CAVIAR…
Horse races are ranked according to an international system, with Group 1 races being the most prestigious. Several classic races link the careers of the Immortals, with the Melbourne Cup (3,200m) being probably the most well-known race although not every Cup winner is a champion and plenty of great horses could not win the Cup. The WS Cox Plate (2,040m) is run on the turning Mooney Valley track under the weight for age (WFA) scale in which horses of the same age and gender carry an equal weight.
This one race has been the making and breaking of many champions over the years. There are sprinters (1,000m to 1,400m), middle distance horses (1,600m to 2,000m) and dyed-in-the wool stayers (2,400m to 3,200m) in the list of Immortals covered in my latest book. The best of the best mixed these distances (Kingston Town won at Group level from 1,200m to 3,200m), while others were specialists at shorter trips (Black Caviar won all of her 25 starts at distances between 1,000m and 1,400m).
The welfare of the thoroughbred is paramount in today’s billion-dollar racing and breeding history, and those horses that are specifically trained to run competitively are given the utmost care and attention by their stables. There are inherent risks in any sport, but the duty of care afforded equine athletes in Australia is second to none in the world — which is why the world comes here to compete. Let’s take a look at one of the most celebrated horses in history, Black Caviar.
Perfection is an almost impossible goal to achieve in horse racing. These are finely tuned thoroughbreds, not machines, and a lot can go wrong in a champion’s preparation let alone a high-pressure race involving such diverse elements as poor barriers, diverse track conditions and the human factor of trainers and jockeys. But for the Peter Moody-trained Black Caviar to win all her 25 starts over a four-year period — 15 of them at Group 1 level – is as close to perfection as one can get in horse racing.
Black Caviar was bred in Nagambie, Victoria, by Rob Jamieson. By the Group 1-winning sire Bel Esprit from the unraced mare Helsinge, herself a daughter of the great producer Scandinavia (Magnus, Wilander and Artic Flight), the filly was purchased by Melbourne trainer Peter Moody at the 2008 Inglis premier sale for $210,000. Stable client Neil Werrett put a syndicate of friends together to race the big quality filly, which they named Black Caviar in a nod to her dam and grand-dam and attired in the appropriate colours of salmon with black dots.
Black Caviar showed ability from her first trial win at Cranbourne in country Victoria in early 2009. She won her debut at Flemington by five lengths and followed up with a stakes win at Caulfield by six. However, the exciting filly was prone to injury because she was so big. Once the barriers opened, all she wanted to do was to race. After a short spell at the end of her season as a two year old, Black Caviar returned as a three year old with an easy victory at Mooney Valley. This win marked her association with stable jockey Luke Nolan, who would partner the champion for much of her career.
In the Group Two Danehill Stakes (1,200m) at Flemington she stumbled out of the starting stalls before recovering to beat stablemate Wanted by three-quarters of a length. A spring campaign was quickly shelved when it was discovered the filly had ripped muscles across her girth. She returned to racing in the Australia Stakes (1,200m) at Flemington in January 2010. Taking on older horses for the first time, she won easily as an odds-on favourite — as she would in every one of the remaining wins in her career. However, when she cooled down she was found to be lame as she had torn a tendon in her leg off the bone. Another long spell followed.
These enforced lay-offs proved an advantage for Black Caviar, as she was sparingly raced as a two and three year old. Moody’s patience and hard work would pay dividends when the now four-year-old mare returned to racing in the spring of 2010. She won the Schillaci Stakes (1,000 m) and AJ Moir Stakes (1,200m) in a canter before tackling her hardest assignment to date, the Group 1 Sprint Classic (1,200m), at the end of Melbourne Cup week. She thrashed Star Witness by four lengths to capture her first of 15 Group 1 wins.
Black Caviar’s unbeaten run of eight wins, though spread over two years, confirmed her status as the most exciting sprinter in Australia. That standing was reinforced with an effortless win over Hay List in the Lightning Stakes (1,000m) at weight for age in February 2011. She was allotted a record 58kg for a mare (1.5kg over weight for age) in the Newmarket Handicap (1,200m) at her next start, but was untroubled in beating Chrystal Lilly by three lengths as a $1.18 favourite.
After winning the William Reid Stakes (1,200 m) at Mooney Valley, again beating Crystal Lily, Black Caviar was on the move. She showed all her champion qualities to reel in Hay List in the TJ Smith Stakes (1,200m) in Sydney before heading to Doomben and beating Hay List (again) and Buffering in the BTC Sprint (1,200m). At the end of her season as a four year old she was unbeaten in 13 starts and was named Australian champion racehorse for the first of three consecutive years.
Black Caviar was a freak: the dark bay mare had grown into her massive frame and her giant stride of 8.3m gave her a sprinting advantage over her rivals. The criticism was that she was winning the same races and beating the same horses over and over again; as Moody later explained, being a sprinting mare limited her to certain types of races (and weight for age races at that after being weighted out of handicaps), which tended to attract the same opposition. The mare started only once at 1,400m, but the trainer thought she could have been competitive over a mile but that it would be at the expense of her brilliance. Why tamper with perfection?
Instead, Moody planned Black Caviar’s campaigns down to the letter, ensuring the injury-prone mare wasn’t overtaxed in her campaigns. In the spring of 2011 she won the Schillaci Stakes, AJ Moir Stakes and Sprint Classic for the second successive year at almost unbackable odds ($1.07, $1.05 and $1.05). Moody had taken the good sprinter Magnus to England, running third in a Group 2 race in 2007 at Royal Ascot. Australian sprinters Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006) and Starspangledbanner (2011) had all tasted success in England, but Black Caviar had superior form to any Australian sprinter that had travelled overseas. Running in England’s premier sprint races at Royal Ascot would be the crowning achievement of her career.
After an effortless first-up win in the Australia Day Stakes (1,200m), Moody stepped Black Caviar up to 1,400m for the first and only time in her career. If she was going to travel to the other side of the world she would need to race out of her comfort zone. After winning the CF Orr Stakes (1,400m) at Caulfield, she stepped back to the 1,000m of the Lightning Stakes a week later and blitzed a good field, including perennial runner-up Hay List and the Queensland champion Buffering. The mare was in blistering form.
In 2012 Black Caviar was invited to race at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1,207m) in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In preparation, she established an Australian record 20 consecutive victories that culminated in victory in the Robert Sangster Stakes (1,200m) in Adelaide. The champion mare added to her tally two weeks later in the Goodwood Handicap (1,200 m), the perfect hit-out before the long trip overseas.
No expense was spared or detail missed in Black Caviar’s transportation to England. Flown in relative comfort, she wore a specially designed compression suit to aid blood flow and circulation. The arrival of the ‘wonder mare from Downunder’ was keenly followed in the world racing press. She had already been rated the world champion sprinter, and Queen Elizabeth II even asked for a private audience with the mare.
Black Caviar was a firm 6-1 on favourite for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. In a race she was expected to dominate, nothing went right from the beginning. Moody was unhappy with her work leading up to the race, and only the weight of expectation – all her owners had travelled from Australia for the race and the eyes of the world were watching — prevented him from scratching the mare.
At the 600-metre mark, jockey Luke Nolan felt the mare was not herself and tried to nurse her to the line. With 100m to go Black Caviar held a narrow advantage but when Nolan relaxed his hands she suddenly eased down. As second favourite Moonlight Cloud drew level to her on the outside, Nolan rode hard, hands and heels and sooled her to victory by a long head.
Even though the mare remained unbeaten, there was a momentary sense of disappointment, then relief… then pride. After the race Nolan took the blame for the closest finish in the mare’s career, describing his ride as a ‘brain fade’, but the truth was Black Caviar had torn a quadriceps muscle in the run and a start in the July Cup was quickly aborted. Would she even race again?
The Australian press waited anxiously to hear whether or not Black Caviar would come back in 2013, but a course of laser therapy and exercise helped in her recovery. Moody was happy with her progress, and a familiar campaign started with her third successive victory in the Lightning Stakes. She was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame while still racing, only the second time after Sunline a horse was so honoured.
The following month Black Caviar won the William Reid Stakes (her second win in the race) before being set for the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick. The Australian Turf Club threw out the red carpet for her and her army of fans; if this was to be her final race then they wanted to make a party of it. A crowd of 40,000 packed Randwick Racecourse with an air of expectation that this could be the mare’s final race appearance. With a form guide that resembled the palings in a picket fence, Black Caviar lined up for her 25th consecutive race win.
The mare sat behind the leader Rain Affair, but in the straight Nolan moved to the middle of the track and went on to beat the fast-finishing Epaulette by three lengths. This was also Black Caviar’s 15th Group 1 victory, an Australian record that surpassed that of the magnificent Kingston Town.
Black Caviar was retired to stud, a decision that was announced by Moody and Werrett five days later on 17 April 2013 and almost four years to the day since she had made her debut at Flemington. She was in great shape heading off to stud, Moody told the assembled press, and she could do no more than win 25 out of 25. It was the perfect end to a marvellous career. ■
The BC Stats
Name BLACK CAVIAR Bay mare foaled in 2006
Sire/dam Bel Esprit/Helsinge by Desert Sun (GB)
Breeder Rob Jamieson
Owners Werrett Bloodstock Pty Ltd (manager Neil Werrett), G.J. Wilkie, K.J. Wilkie, C.H. Madden, J. Madden, P.A. Hawkes, D.M. Taylor and J. Taylor
Trainer Peter Moody
Years active 2009-13
Record 25 starts, 25-0-0
Prize money $7,953,936
Awards/honours Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13; European Champion Sprinter 2012; World Champion Sprinter 2011, 2012 and 2013; Longines WTRR World Champion Racehorse 2013 (tied with Treve, FR); Australian Racing Hall of Fame 2013; G1 Black Caviar Lightning (1,000 m) at Flemington
About The Author
Alan J. Whiticker is an award-winning author of sport, history, biography and true crime. A lifelong racing fan, Alan is the author of Don’t Die Wondering: The Pat Webster Story (2019), as well as Searching for the Beaumont Children (2006), The History of Rugby League Clubs (2004, with Ian Collis), 101 Great Rugby League Players (2012, with Ian Collis), Classic Albums: The Vinyl that Made A Generation (2018) and The State of Origin Companion (2020).
IMMORTALS OF AUSTRALIAN HORSE RACING: THE THOROUGHBREDS
by Alan J. Whiticker (Gelding Street Press, $39.99rrp) is available where all good books are sold and online at www.booktopia.com.au
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