No rush to decide Black Caviar future

Published on 25/06/2012 01:46

Connections of Black Caviar are keen to let the mare recover from her Royal Ascot exertions before making any decisions on her racing future.

The Peter Moody-trained six-year-old extended her unbeaten record to 22 races with an extremely narrow victory in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on Saturday.

She would, however, have been beaten within a few more strides as Moonlight Cloud nearly cashed in on a bad miscalculation by jockey Luke Nolen.

The Australian superstar was found to have torn her back muscles during the race after being checked by a vet and chiropractor on Sunday morning.

Part-owner Neil Werrett said: “After the initial shock of it all we probably came back to reality today. It took a long while to get my breathing back to normal and I think my heart has just got there.

“The mare pulled up pretty sore. She pulled a couple of back muscles and she was pretty sorry for herself this morning. Peter had the vet and the chiropractor look at her and she went into quarantine this morning. We’ll reassess her when we get home.”

Werrett insists those injuries show Black Caviar was not at her best in the six-furlong feature, which may have been the reason why she stopped so quickly after Nolen eased off.

Werrett added: “If you look at Luke’s ride and when he dropped his hands, she normally just coasts in.

“But she was probably feeling a bit sore and, as soon as Luke dropped his hands, she decided she was going to stop.

“She’s a high maintenance horse and we want to make sure she’s well before she goes to race again. That’s something we’ll reassess in three or four weeks’ time. At the moment it is too early. It is one day after the event and Peter wants to get her home as soon as possible.”