Photo:Gary Wild

Black Caviar on her way to England

07-06-2012

AAP June 07, 2012 9:15am

HE is the fastest horse on earth and her trainer believes there isn't another alive that can beat her.

But as Black Caviar boarded a plane for England on Wednesday, trainer Peter Moody warned she wouldn't take a single step on an English racecourse unless she came through the trip in perfect shape.

"If she doesn't travel well and I'm not 100 per cent happy with her, everyone will have a nice holiday in England and won't see her race," Moody said.

Black Caviar will attempt to win her 22nd race from as many starts in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot on June 23 and Moody is supremely confident she will keep her unbeaten record intact.

"She's getting on the plane the fittest she's been in her career," he said.

Moody has devised a special program under which Black Caviar did her most testing gallops at home at Caulfield, leaving her two weeks in England to recover from the flight.

"I don't want to have to train her for the next two weeks," Moody said.

In his efforts to have his champion mare ready for her appointment with the Queen at Royal Ascot, Moody has gone to extraordinary lengths.

As well as the celebrated compression suit she will wear on the flight, Moody has made it clear to Singapore Airlines that they have a special passenger on board and has sent her vet Peter Angus, his stable foreman Tony Haydon and exercise rider Paddy Bell on the flight with her.

He also sent a load of her favourite feed to England ahead of her last week.

"Singapore Airlines have been terrific, they realise what cargo they're carrying and every effort has been made to keep the stopovers as brief as possible," he said.

Unlike regular passengers who can walk around the cabin, Black Caviar will have to stand in her crate for at least 30 hours, depending on the length of stopovers in Singapore and Sharjah.

By the time she gets to her English stables at Newmarket she is likely to have been in a plane or a truck for around 36 hours.

Moody said he would consider running Black Caviar in the July Cup (1200m) at Newmarket on July 14 should she come through the Ascot run in good order.

He also promised that a wet track would be no barrier to her starting at Royal Ascot.