Horse racing-Australian champion sprinter Black Caviar put down

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Champion Australian racehorse Black Caviar, who was retired in 2013 after 25 wins from 25 starts, was put down on Saturday, a day before her 18th birthday.

Peter Moody, who trained the mare to 15 Group One wins in Australia and England, said she had been euthanised on "humane grounds" shortly after giving birth to a foal.

Thousands flocked to racecourses around Australia just over a decade ago to get a glimpse of Black Caviar as she established herself as the best sprinter in the world.

She took the Australian record for Group One wins in early 2013 when she won the TJ Smith Stakes in front of a sell-out crowd at Sydney's Royal Randwick to take her career earnings to just under A$8 million ($5.33 million).

The record has since been eclipsed by Winx, who won 25 Group One races between 2015 and 2019.

Black Caviar still holds a place in the pantheon of great Australian racehorses alongside Winx, 1930 Melbourne Cup winner Phar Lap and triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.

"She was a remarkable horse who gave us all the ride of a lifetime and wonderful memories," Moody said in a Victoria Racing Club statement on behalf of Black Caviar's ownership group.

($1 = 1.5002 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)