Black Caviar: world’s best sprinter gearing up for her trip to Britain

PICTURE: AAP Racing , BY AAP RACING/MIKE HEDGE 10:56 AM 5 JUN 2012

Australia: Black Caviar, who leaves Australia bound for Britain on Wednesday, will wear a lycra compression suit during her arduous 30-plus hour journey.

On the eve of her departure, the champion mare on Tuesday morning appeared for her farewell media call at her Melbourne stable decked out in a slinky, clinging lycra number with her racing name on one shoulder and her stable name, Nelly, on the other.

Trainer Peter Moody explained he’d got the idea of the lycra compression suit from rival trainer John McNair and, with some help from world champion hurdler Sally Pearson, had one made to help Black Caviar stay as comfortable as possible on her trip to England.

“She’s quite susceptible to soft-tissue injuries, muscle tears,” Moody said. “I thought if it’s good enough for Sally Pearson, it’s good enough for Black Caviar.”

Black Caviar leaves Melbourne on Wednesday for a trip that is set to produce her 22nd win from as many starts in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 23.

It will be the first plane trip for the mare and Moody and her owners regard the flight as the most nerve-wracking part of the exercise. “It should be all right – actually flying is better than being in a truck for a horse,” Moody said.

Just in case, though, Black Caviar will be accompanied by a vet and two attendants on the flight that has stopovers in Singapore and Sharjah.

Moody said he had his world champion in the best condition of her career. “She is as fit as I’ve had her at this stage of a preparation,” he said. “I don’t want to have to train her for the next two weeks. She’ll just go out on the gallops, there’ll be no need to do anything major with her.

“The facts and figures tell you there’s not a horse out there who can beat her,” he added.

Ascot