[9] Black Caviar was the first foal of her unraced dam Helsinge, a daughter of the British racehorse Desert Sun,[10] that never won a major race but was placed in the Craven Stakes and the Sandown Mile.

As a descendant of the British broodmare Pinprick, Black Caviar is a product of the same branch of Thoroughbred family 1-p, which also produced the Classic winners Ambiguity and Sodium.

[14] In looks, size, and conformation, Black Caviar resembled her grandsire, Royal Academy, and great-grandsire, Nijinsky, who won the English Triple Crown.

Stepping up to Group 2 level in the Danehill Stakes at Flemington, she caused concern when she stumbled at the start; however, she recovered to keep her winning run going, beating the colt Wanted, by ¾ of a length.

After the race, the veteran trainer Lee Freedman, who had conditioned outstanding sprinters including Miss Andretti described Black Caviar as "the best I have seen".

This performance earned her a rating of 130 from the IFHA, which made her the number one ranked horse in the world in the period of October 2010 to March 2011.

In this race, which attracted a crowd of 30,000, Hay List established a clear break on the field at the top of the straight and a huge upset briefly appeared possible.

She won by 2 lengths over Hay List, which once again ran a clear second placing and confirmed his standing as Black Caviar's main rival.

She maintained her unbeaten record with win number 16 in the Patinack Farm Classic by 2.8 lengths from Buffering and Mid Summer Music.

On 27 January 2012, she returned to racing by winning the 1200-metre Group 2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley by 4.3 lengths in a time of 1.09.44 to remain undefeated over 17 starts.

The distance and wet track conditions led to media speculation that her unbeaten run was under threat,[29] but she again won comfortably by 3.3 lengths in front of a crowd of 20,000.

On 28 April 2012, she won the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes by 4½ lengths at Morphettville and in the process set a new Australasian record of 20 straight wins from 20 starts.

[33] Racing over a straight six furlongs on rain-softened turf, Black Caviar won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes by a head from the French-trained filly Moonlight Cloud, with Restiadargent a neck away in third.

[34] Nolen sent the mare past the Frankie Dettori-ridden Soul inside the last quarter-mile[35] but after establishing a clear lead, he began to ease Black Caviar.

Moonlight Cloud moved up on the stands side to draw almost level before Nolen began driving Black Caviar again in the final strides.

[39] It was announced that Black Caviar would return to Australia to recover and bypass the originally intended second stage of her international challenge in the July Cup.

On 26 June, Moody explained that Black Caviar was expected to recover from her injuries and that, after an extended break, she would be prepared for a third Patinack Farm Classic.

[41] In November 2012, Black Caviar was named European Champion Sprinter at the Cartier Racing Awards,[42] becoming the first horse trained outside Europe to be so honoured.

[43] This anomaly led to Black Caviar being officially described as a six-year-old when she ran in England in June 2012, although she was still a five-year-old by Southern Hemisphere reckoning.

In February 2013, Black Caviar stretched her unbeaten run to 23 by winning the Lightning Stakes, breaking the course record which had stood for 25 years.

[51][52] In the early morning hours of 13 September 2014, Black Caviar gave birth to her first foal, a bay filly by Exceed and Excel.