A Long Way from Wyandra

The forthright, fascinating memoir of Peter Moody, trainer of Black Caviar and one of Australia's most high-profile and best-liked racing identities.

Peter Moody is best-known to the Australian public as the trainer of legendary race horse Black Caviar. His story is a classic, a boy from the bush who worked his way from outback Queensland all the way to Royal Ascot.

As a kid growing up in Wyandra, a tiny bush town in Western Queensland, Peter learned to ride almost before he could walk. Horses were part of his life, and as a teenager working for local bush trainers he learned many lessons - some of them painful - as he developed his skills and understanding of them. A mate's introduction got him an eye-opening and life changing job working as a strapper for the legendary trainer Tommy Smith in Sydney. It was a momentous move for a bush kid, and one that would set the course of his life.

His career was to see him learning from some of the greatest names and minds in the racing industry, as he plied his trade in Sydney, Brisbane and finally Melbourne were he established his own highly successful stables, Moody Racing. He was to win premierships as Melbourne's most successful trainer, but to the wider Australian public he's best-known as the man who gave us Black Caviar. His account of that extraordinary horse's career is unique. He was, quite simply, the man who knew her best.

From outback childhood, to strapper, to foreman and then on to premiership winning trainer and the guiding force behind the most famous and successful horse of recent times, Black Caviar, and finally to his run-in with the racing authorities that saw him retire as trainer in the deepest frustration, Peter's autobiography gives a hugely entertaining, fascinating and authentic insight into one of the largest characters in Australian sport.

About the Author

From the tiny Queensland town of Wyandra to Royal Ascot and all racecourses in between, Peter Moody has left his mark as a horse trainer.

Peter honed his skills with the bush trainers of his native Queensland before moving to Sydney where he worked for Hall of Fame trainer Tommy Smith, then on to Brisbane and finally Melbourne where he established his stables, Moody Racing.

He has won the Australian Premiership, Victorian Metropolitan and Provincial premierships on four occasions as well as the leading Group One trainer in Australia both in number of wins and prize money twice. He has trained more than 50 Group 1 winners throughout his career, including the legendary Black Caviar, who retired unbeaten with an unprecedented 25 straight victories.