Breeders' Cup Memories: Goldikova

Olivier Peslier and Goldikova after winning their third Breeders' Cup Mile together

Timeform look back at arguably the ultimate Breeders' Cup heroine.

A quick quiz question: which Group 1 race did Goldikova win more than any other?

Well remembered/Googled, it was indeed the Prix Rothschild (four times), but as admiration for the Freddie Head-trained mare ferments into legend, it will surely be her exploits at the Breeders' Cup for which she will be best remembered.

It's strange to think now, but in the autumn of 2008 there was doubt over which race at the Breeders' Cup Goldikova would be aimed at. Luckily for racing historians everywhere, the Mile was chosen over the Filly & Mare Turf, and probably the most famous odyssey in the relatively short history of the Breeders' Cup began.

Goldikova's first win at the Breeders' Cup was subsumed by the wider story of a European treble in the three feature races: the Mile, the Turf (Conduit) and the Classic (Raven's Pass). A year later, Goldikova had emerged from the shadow of Zarkava to become France's most famous horse, adding three Group 1s to her CV before arriving back at Santa Anita as a short-priced favourite. A wide draw would prove no barrier as Goldikova overcame Courageous Cat by half a length, the win more cosy than that margin might imply.

By the time the 2010 Breeders' Cup rolled around, Goldikova was established as Europe's leading miler, beaten only by Makfi en route to her third Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, where she bid for what some wags termed a "three-peat". If the title was clumsy, the race itself was supremely smooth for Goldikova, as she swept by the field to win her third Breeders' Cup Mile by just shy of two lengths from another multiple G1 winner, Gio Ponti.

A fourth win at six would prove beyond Goldikova, managing only third behind Court Vision, but her place in history, both at the Breeders' Cup and in the wider racing world, was already secured. She retired with 14 wins at the highest level, the most of any European-trained Flat horse, and the indelible honour of being the first horse ever to win a Breeders' Cup race three times in a row.

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