Winning Post - Letter Of The Week Archive

If you want to know the real drama and brave performance behind the scenes in Black Caviar’s courageous win at Royal Ascot in 2012, you must read Peter Moody’s book A Long Way From Wyandra.
I realise living in Queensland I am in a media black spot when it comes to racing south of the border, even when it involves an icon like Black Caviar.
However, I had no idea of how many problems beset the mare, her trainer and his small travelling team, including a vet and physiotherapist who were kept busy almost 24/7 from the day she stepped off the plane in London until the day of the race.
In fact Moody was in two minds whether or not to scratch, right up until race day.
To quote Peter himself, “From the moment she stepped on the plane until the race itself, not one thing went wrong — everything did.”
The owners had all traveled to England, and they and Peter were stunned at the publicity that had preceded the mare’s arrival.
Black Caviar memorabilia filled souvenir shops, she was on the front pages of many major newspapers, there were billboards on street corners, TV and press cameras followed her everywhere and even a London cab was painted salmon with black spots.
Whil the owners were excited by all the attention, Peter was very apprehensive and stressed knowing that things were not right with the mare, and that she was perhaps at the lowest ebb of her career.
Two days before the race he held a conference with his four professional team members to vote on a recommendation to advise the largely unsuspecting owners to scratch.
The staff conference resolved nothing, as each member was in two minds, before Peter cut through: “Bugger it. We’ll give it a go.”
It wasn’t one major problem that terrified Peter, but rather a series of niggling matters, any one of which if aggravated sufficiently could result in the mare breaking down.
Although the topic is not mentioned in the book, I find it hard to understand how the vets passed Black Caviar fit to run.
Luke Nolen has been roundly criticised for dropping his hands in the last 20 or 30 metres of the Diamond Jubilee, which almost cost Black Caviar the race.
Peter Moody is annoyed about this criticism, as his instructions to Nolen were something like: “Of course we want to win, but don’t hurt her, and make it as easy as possible.”
After so much experience on the mare, Luke knew that even if he dropped his hands, she would still keep traveling at the same pace until he started to pull her up.
With the race in his keeping close to home, and remembering Peter’s instructions, he went easy on her, but she was apparently hurting so much on the uphill Ascot straight that she just pulled up.
Peter is emphatic Luke was not lairising. In fact Black Caviar was so exhausted in the mounting yard after the race, Peter was terrified that as Her Majesty came over for a pat, this huge mare might collapse on her.
There are many more incidents, some hilarious, of that memorable day described in the book, including being stuck in the carpark until 11pm with a broken-down car.
The behind-the-scenes story of that eventful trip alone is worth the cost of the book, never mind the whole amazing story of the great Peter Moody.