‘25 a great number to go out on’

Black Caviar’s co-owner Neil Werrett is already looking forward to racing the offspring of the champion sprinter after her unexpected retirement was announced at a press conference yesterday.

The superstar mare, a sporting hero in Australia, won the last of her 25 races at Randwick on Saturday but there was no mention that run would be her last.

Officials at Ascot still hoped she would return to the Royal meeting after her heart-stopping win last June in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, where she suffered a muscle injury which kept her off the track until February this year.