Black Caviar will miss the whole of Melbourne's Spring Carnival and a decision is to be taken about her future in September. The world's best sprinter was ruled out of the Carnival, which lasts for 50 days in October and November, by Peter Moody, her trainer. The decision about whether to retire her will be taken by her syndicate owners after the Australian horse of the year ceremony in Melbourne. "All the owners will be in town then and we can sit down and have a good discussion about what to do with her," Moody told Australia's <em>Herald Sun.</em> "We have two options. If we retire her after that meeting she's still got plenty of time to go to stud. Otherwise we will give her a decent spell and bring her back for the autumn." The six-year-old mare took her unbeaten tally to 22 races when just getting home in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. By beating Moonlight Cloud, the French raider, by a head, Black Caviar officially ran 15lb below her Australian rating, which is the equivalent to seven lengths. The performance prompted talk of retirement, which was stoked in the days after the race when Moody revealed that she had suffered soft tissue damage. It was Black Caviar's sixth race in as many months and Moody simply does not want to risk his prized asset. "She's just needed time to get over her trip to England. She's had a really busy time in the past year or so and just needs a break to get over it," Moody said. "She's fine in herself and she's recovered from her injuries, but it would be asking a lot of her to have only a couple of weeks off and then be ready for the spring." sports@thenational.ae Follow us & Geoffrey Riddle
