Black Caviar in Caulfield farewell Black Caviar made one last appearance in front of her adoring fans at Caulfield's Pink Ribbon Raceday, three days after the surprise announcement that she had run her final race. It was the connections' chance to say thank you for the support afforded by the public during her stunning career, which generated 25 wins from as many starts, and trainer Peter Moody told www.racingvictoria.net.au it had been a privilege to have trained the champion mare. "I'm privileged that I've got to walk outside my back door and see Nelly every day of her life, that's a privilege I've had," he said. "I'd go as far to say as that's probably the last time she'll ever have a saddle on her back. I think she deserves a rest, she's done a wonderful job for the industry, for sport and for Australia in general, she's just a good news story." There were no sizzling sectionals, no prohibitive odds and no hopelessly outclassed rivals, but that didn't make Black Caviar's final racetrack appearance a disappointment. A crowd of several thousand turned out to pay tribute, making the most of the Melbourne Racing Club's offer of free entry, to say goodbye to the six-year-old daughter of Bel Esprit. She paraded for an hour in the pre-parade ring with, stopping every few meters so that her adoring public could all take a photo and have a pat. Luke Nolen then received the leg up for one final time and took her for a canter up the Caulfield straight where the action looked as fluent and powerful as it had during any of her 25 straight career wins. She had the last of 25 starts last Saturday at Randwick, where she won a second T.J. Smith Stakes in front of a sell-out crowd. It was her eighth successive Group One win and 15th overall at the highest level, an Australian record. Black Caviar will now retire to a paddock, where a date with one of the country's top stallions will await in late winter or early spring although rumours of a possible date with Frankel on the other side of the world won't go away.
