Black Caviar

Widden Stud announced on Thursday the death of Bel Esprit, the retired sire of the global phenomenon that was Black Caviar. He was 26. "Bel Esprit has left a real legacy that will extend well beyond his passing and it has been a privilege to have him in our care," said Widden Stud's Adam Henry. The son of Royal Academy won his first five starts, culminating with victory in the 2002 G1 Blue Diamond. He followed that up with a sixth-place finish in the G1 Golden Slipper, before returning as...

The Kick Up team in Australia has launched a new Breeding Hub to tackle misinformation head-on, following the public backlash after the death of Black Caviar last year when much of what was shouted about the breeding industry was said to be incorrect. "We saw, very aggressively and loudly, possibly for the first time, that there was a lot of criticism towards the breeding industry, and a heck of a lot of misinformation came along with that," said Nathan Skrivanic of Kick Collective, who is part of the Kick Up...

The connections of Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), who was humanely euthanised on Saturday morning after a short battle with laminitis, confirmed the final foal, a Snitzel colt, of the unbeaten mare has also died. "The owners are saddened to advise that Black Caviar's foal, a colt sired by Snitzel, passed away last night," the statement said on Monday. "He received around-the-clock, world-class veterinary care, but unfortunately could not be saved. The ownership group would like to thank the entire veterinary team who dedicated their time and efforts to caring for...

Australia's darling racemare Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}), who carved out a reputation as being one of the world's best sprinters following an unbeaten 25-race career, has died one day shy of her 18th birthday following laminitis disease.  The winner of 15 Group 1 races was humanely euthanised at the Scone Equine Hospital on Saturday morning after giving birth to a foal. "You don't think it affects you, but you are being stupid not to think it doesn't," her trainer Peter Moody told reporters at Caulfield, as reported by...

The only man in history to win the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season, Henry de Bromhead is not content on tightening his grip on the major jumps races and is now taking aim at the Irish 1,000 Guineas with Star Girls Aalmal (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}).  De Bromhead signed off on another memorable National Hunt season at Punchestown last month by sending out Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) to win her 12th Grade 1 and extend her unbeaten record to 16. As the Flat...