Bruce McAvaney shares ‘great sadness’ in Black Caviar fallout

Bruce McAvaney has shared his “shock and great sadness” at the death of Black Caviar.

The legendary broadcaster was at the centre of some of the champion mare’s biggest moments as a host of Channel 7’s racing coverage, including when she won at Royal Ascot despite fears of a late scratching.

Black Caviar was euthanised on Saturday, a day short of her 18th birthday, soon after giving birth to a colt foal that also died on Monday.

“It felt a shock and a great deal of sadness,” McAvaney told RadioTAB.

“We felt like it was the end of something very special, didn’t we?”

McAvaney said it was unique for Australia, beyond Melbourne and Sydney, to be able to “celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime horse” during her career.

Black Caviar’s two races in the broadcaster’s home state of South Australia remain special memories.

“It was heaving. In my lifetime the only other occasion I can think of something similar is when Tulloch came to Adelaide in 1960,” he said.

“I’m old enough to have gone that day but even that didn’t feel the same as when Black Caviar ran. You had something similar in Queensland.”

Black Caviar died following a battle with laminitis, a condition that can result in restricted blood flow to the feet, with trainer Peter Moody reporting her health deteriorated following a milk infection in recent days.

With a heavy focus on horse welfare during the Melbourne Cup carnival in recent years, the breeding program came under question in the wake of her death.

Black Caviar was retired in 2013 and gave birth to her first of nine foals in 2014.

“I think it’s very unfair,” McAvaney said.

“The sadness around the foal and the acute sadness around Black Caviar, no horse would’ve been better looked after than Black Caviar.

“The owners treated her like a child and none of us can absolutely guarantee anything in life, that’s just the way it is. I think it’s criticism that’s ill-founded.”

Black Caviar’s owners were already defended by Thoroughbred Breeders NSW after they decided not to sell any of the horse’s bloodstock.

Leading vet Ben Mason said Black Caviar’s breeding situation was not out of the ordinary.

“She was 18, she wasn’t in the geriatric range, I think everything was normal,” he told RSN.

“That was just another year for her, that’s what she was doing. She was a mummy and her job at the time was to produce other elite horses like her to keep the genetic pool going, which is what we need of these great horses.

“I don’t think they pushed her beyond her limits, from an outsider perspective. I don’t think they would’ve done that if she had any subclinical problems anyway.

“This is not an epidemic out there of this. This is almost a one-off. I know she’s a high-profile horse so we have to talk about this but I don’t think we’ve got a national issue that needs addressing.”

McAvaney praised Black Caviar as the best sprinter in his lifetime.

He said “there’s no doubt” she would be named among Australian racing’s top five horses alongside Winx and Phar Lap, with the remaining two slots up for debate.

But one ‘question mark’ will always linger in McAvaney’s mind in spite of Black Caviar’s unbeaten record.

“One of the interesting things about Black Caviar, I think anything was possible in terms of stretching her out (to race longer distances),” McAvaney said.

“I honestly felt that had Peter (Moody) trained her, she would’ve been very competitive in the Cox Plate.

“She certainly would’ve won all the big miles in Australia, no doubt about that. I feel like in many ways there was no limit.

“Obviously she wasn’t winning a Melbourne Cup. But I felt that when she won that 1400 at Caulfield (the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes in 2012) she certainly could’ve gone for another 200, 400 or maybe 600 metres.

“I feel that’s always a question mark surrounding her. I think if Peter decided, she could’ve stretched out and perhaps been dominant at longer distances.”

McAvaney said he is grateful, though, that Black Caviar raced for as long as she did.