"You worry about all of them," Moody says. "You know what can happen, they can get down in their box, or knock themselves, or pick up a cough or a cold."
But he knows that slow horses can walk away from train wrecks. Good ones get a sniffle or step on a stone, and never run again.
Moody also knows that things can go wrong because they already have.
Black Caviar has a perfect 15-from-15 racing record, but it might have been even more impressive had she not broken down early last year when her unbeaten winning streak had just begun.
At the time, Black Caviar had won her first five races and was favourite for the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley, the scene last Saturday when she extended her unbeaten run in the Schweppes Stakes (1200m).
The injury was a strained suspensory ligament in her off-foreleg, one of the most common in horse racing and one which is even more common in horses like Black Caviar.
One of the reasons the champion mare is so good is because she is so big. And when a horse is as big as she is, almost 560kg, they put enormous strain on front legs that are a fundamental flaw in the construction of thoroughbred horses.
"There was no hole in the suspensory, which we are grateful for, but they can be tricky things so we don't take any risks with her," Moody said.
The suspicion about Black Caviar's legs and the strain they are under is one reason why Moody and her owners ended her Brisbane winter campaign after she won the BTC Cup at Doomben in May.
This time, though, there's no problem, and another day in the life of Black Caviar, and the team who look after her, gets underway while sensible people sleep.
Her devoted companion Donna Fisher brushes her, pulls a few strands of straw from her tail and gets her ready for the saddle and bridle.
Her jockey Luke Nolen is legged up and the mare, who has the build of Serena Williams and moves with the grace of Evonne Goolagong, is led away into the darkness.
She clip-clops along the lane behind the stables and is on the track by 4.15am.
Moody likes to give Black Caviar first use of the track before any lesser horse has pulled a clod of earth out of the ground and left a hole his mare might put her foot in.
For the best sprinting thoroughbred in the world her workout is the equivalent of a brisk walk to the shops.
"She can run the best time of the morning without trying," Moody said.
He doesn't hide the fact that he finds all the attention tedious and often annoying. But he's hoping it doesn't stop for the next year or so.
"It's a pain in the arse," he says.
"But I'm glad it's my arse."
- AAP
