Wednesday, 22 February 2012: In a complete turnaround to expected plans, champion mare Black Caviar is to spell and will not race in Melbourne, Sydney or Dubai over the next two months.
Photo by Racing and Sports
A conference on Tuesday night between trainer Peter Moody and Black Caviar's owners resolved to aim the unbeaten champion at Royal Ascot in June with the possibility of one start in either Adelaide or Brisbane in late April or May as her one lead-up race.
Black Caviar's Ascot target is the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes over the straight six furlongs course on June 23. It all but rules out any chance of Black Caviar meeting unbeaten UK champion Frankel while she is in the UK.
The surprise program for Black Caviar was revealed after Moody went through all the possible scenarios with Black Cavaiar's owners.
The decision to give Black Caviar an immediate short spell rules out the following race options for the mare:-
- She will not race for the third successive Saturday this weekend in the G1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, G1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on March 10 or G1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on March 23.
- She will not be going to Dubai for the G1 Golden Shaheen (1200m) at Meydan on March 31.
- She will not be seen at the Sydney autumn carnival in the G1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), a race she won last year, at Randwick on April 14.
The Australian races that may now see Black Caviar go for her 20th successive win are:-
- The G1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville in Adelaide on April 28.
- The G1 Goodwood Handicap (1200m) at Morphettville on in Adelaide on May 12.
- The G1 BTC Cup (1200m) at Doomben in Brisbane on May 12, a race she won last year at her only Brisbane appearance.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The Robert Sangster Stakes and BTC Cup are weight-for-age races and the most favourable for Black Caviar compared to the severe weight she would be asked to carry under the handicap conditions of the Goodwood.
Moody, in revealing his decision to spell Black Caviar, denied there was anything amiss the great mare.
"There's nothing wrong with her. To the contrary, she's at the top of her game," he reported.
"She's pulled up 110 per cent from her run in the Lightning Stakes and I wanted to keep it that way.
"If she heads to the paddock in that condition it's only going to enhance her prospects for her next campaign.
"It's all geared around having her at her peak when she flies to England for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes."
Moody said Dubai had been dismissed due to the extended time Black Caviar would be required to be overseas.
"What concerned me about taking her to Dubai was the fact that she would be away from home for more than four months leading up to the Diamond Jubilee," he reported.
"It was just too big an assignment, too long away from home. I just wasn't happy she would be away for such a long period."
Photo by Racing and Sports
Black Caviar is to spend at least three weeks in a paddock on a rural Victorian property before she starts working on a water walker at trainer Peter Clarke's Murchison property prior to her return to full work with Moody at Caulfield.
In the UK the Frankel team have mapped out a program that cancels out the possibility of a clash with Black Caviar at Royal Ascot.
Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager for Frankel's owner Khalid Abdullah said a face-off between Frankel and Black Caviar at Royal Ascot was not on the cards.
Grimthorpe said Frankel's trainer Sir Henry Cecil had the 10-furlong G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes as his preferred Royal Ascot target for the four-year-old.
"Sir Henry is looking at stretching Frankel this year," Grimthorpe said.
"We hope to start off in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 18, and then we have two options at Royal Ascot, either the Queen Anne Stakes over the mile or the Prince of Wales's."
