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Freddy Head Happy With Goldikova
26/10/10

Freddy Head said today that Goldikova’s preparation for a record-breaking third successive victory in the US$2-million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile in America on Saturday, November 6, is going smoothly.

The trainer, speaking at his yard on the edge of Chantilly, France, said: “Goldikova's work has been good and she seems in great form.

“We haven't changed anything this year and had the same prep race. It was even better this year as we won the Prix de la Foret so for the moment all is well. I don't think she can do better than she is.”

The five-year-old’s two previous wins in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile came at the Californian track of Santa Anita Park, whereas Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, hosts this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

But Head is not worried by the change of venue, with Goldikova aiming to be the first horse to win three Breeders’ Cup races.

He commented: “Going to Churchill Downs this year does not change much - all the American tracks are about the same.

“The weather may be a little cooler. I don’t want too much rain. They have been having a very dry spell there and I hope it lasts. Even if it does rain, the ground is not going to be as soft as it was at Longchamp the other day (for the Prix de la Foret).

"She is travelling to America on Saturday - it takes 12 hours - she ships to Louisville or Lexington with a stop at Stansted to put the English horses on the plane. She is a very good traveller and does not sweat much.

“We had a very bad draw last year - we had ridden from the front in the Prix de la Foret and got beat and so I told Olivier (Peslier) to wait a bit with her - he was a bit further back than we wanted but that is the way races turn out.

"I was a little worried for sure - she was a long way behind the leaders in the back straight. But Olivier knew what he was doing.

"This year we led again in the Prix de la Foret but she did not fight with him - that was the big difference. She is very fast - she loves the speed. There is no doubt that is why she is so brilliant in the States because they start fast which we do not do here - the stalls open and everybody stops and holds back.

"The faster they go, the better she is and firm ground is good for her. She does a seven-furlong gallop every day - usually she goes out second lot at 9.30am or so.

“Her last good work will be on Thursday with Olivier but she does not need much - she is very forward in her preparation. She will then just tick over in America.

“The draw is going to be important in America. I don’t want Goldikova to be drawn on the outside again. It will be up to Olivier how he rides the race - you have to let jockeys do what they want.

“Paco Boy is a super horse - so tough and genuine. Gio Ponti if he runs, will be the one to beat this year I suppose - he is a very good horse - second in the Classic last year. Proviso is a good mare - normally we have beaten her but she is at home over there now.”

Goldikova, owned by the Wertheimer brothers, Alain and Gerard, came to join Head’s string by chance.

He explained: “With the Wertheimers, we trainers all put in a list of the yearlings we like best. Goldikova was very high in my list and they chose to give her to me - it was sheer luck.

“I get about 18 yearlings from the Wertheimers each year. I rode Anabaa, her sire, but I did not train the dam (Born Gold) - my sister Criquette did.

“I thought she was a very nice looking yearling - she had everything and good looks. She is a total bay - no white hairs. I go to the Wertheimers’ farm near Deauville two or three times a year - there is a lovely stud there.

“When she was two and I returned from Deauville that year, she started to work and she was going very well.

“She won very easily first time out at Chantilly and I thought to run her in the Prix Marcel Boussac but Zarkava had been very impressive and I didn’t want to take her on - Goldikova wasn’t ready for that.

“I ran her in another normal race and she won that - I knew then that she was good but I didn’t know how good she was going to be.

“In the spring of her three-year-old career, she got beat on very soft ground and then she was second to Zarkava in the French Guineas. We ran in the Prix Diane which was a little far and she finished third behind Zarkava again.

“At that time. I said she was good but maybe not that good. Then she won a mile Group Three at Maisons-Laffitte easily and I knew then there was something special.

“She is much tougher now and she has improved with age - I think she was very backward.

“She is a bit funny in her box - you cannot pat her - she can come at you, biting and she can kick if she does not like you. She has had the same lad throughout and he can do anything with her.”

At this point, the Breeders’ Cup Mile is her last intended race but there is a possibility of this changing.

“The Wertheimers love racing - for them it is what they like - to have a horse like her is everything. The stress of her running - that is their pleasure.

“The Wertheimers’ grandfather started the breeding. Last year, the Wertheimers said they were going to keep Goldikova in training - the main goal was to go back to the Breeders’ Cup. They love that race. Alain Wertheimer lives in America so winning the Breeders’ Cup has always been the main target.

“We are not talking about whether she will run after the Breeders’ Cup - for the moment she won’t race any more.”

Head believes that Goldikova is a one-off.

“She is extraordinary - for a trainer to have a horse like her is unbelievable - I don’t think I will train a better horse - she is very special.

“To watch her in the morning and in the afternoon, she gives exactly the same - she is brilliant - cantering she is always free with a beautiful action. She is a dream to train - you can do whatever you want with a horse like that.

“She takes a good hold - she is that sort of horse - she has so much gas. With time, she has got a bit naughtier I suppose.

“She is very sound, has the will and is happy. She does not race much -she runs five or six races a year so we have not over-raced her.

“She is happy - in a great routine. Training is routine - 90 per cent routine and 10 per cent inspiration.

“It is a bit stressful to train her sometimes but - touch wood - she has been very, very easy. She has never had anything wrong and has been very sound.

“I don’t think I will ever have a horse like her again - winning so many Group Ones (a record 11 for a European-based horse). Maybe I will have one who for a short time is as good but she is very special because she is as good as she was three years ago - that is very rare.

“There is a bit of pressure but I am relaxed - things are going well at the moment. I think she is well - this is racing and we are not sure to win.

“It is a bit special trying to win three Breeders’ Cup races. It would be great to happen. I have been lucky enough to both ride (two Breeders’ Cup Mile victories on Miesque) and train winners at the Breeders’ Cup.

“I take great pleasure in training. I have a very small string - 70 horses right now. I can have 100 and I think I will get that number at the start of next season. I have very good owners.

“It was the challenge - to see if I could do it like all my ancestors.”

GOLDIKOVA (IRE) FACTFILE
5 b m Anabaa (USA) - Born Gold (USA) (Blushing Groom (FR))
Form: 11/2231111/711131-11121 Trainer: Freddy Head
Owner: Wertheimer et Frere Breeder: Wertheimer et Frere

Goldikova has already assured her place among horseracing’s greats in a stellar career that has yielded a European record of 11 Group/Grade One successes. Included among those wins are two scintillating victories in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (2008 & 2009) at Santa Anita Park and this year she will attempt to rewrite the record books with an unprecedented third triumph in that Breeders’ Cup contest at Churchill Downs.
Bred and raced by the Wertheimer Family, Goldikova joined trainer Freddy Head and raced twice as a juvenile, winning both starts over a mile at Chantilly in September and October, 2007. She met with defeat in each of her first three starts as a three-year-old, two of those coming behind the Aga Khan’s champion three-year-old filly Zarkava when third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, the French 1,000 Guineas, and runner-up in the Prix de Diane, the French Oaks, over an extended 10 furlongs. Dropped back to a mile after that latter effort, Goldikova went through the remainder of her three-year-old season unbeaten. Group One victories over Darjina in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp proved to be mouth-watering aperitifs to the season’s highlight, a stunning triumph over Kip Deville in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in October when she showed blistering acceleration to put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

Goldikova finished out of the first three for the only time in her career when returning to action in May, 2009, as she was a below-par seventh in a soft-ground renewal of the Prix d’Ispahan. Given time to return to her brilliant best, Goldikova was next seen at Newmarket’s July Festival when she toyed with top-class fillies to score an emphatic half-length success in the Falmouth Stakes. Deauville in August brought a second Prix Rothschild triumph, before a breathtaking six-length win over subsequent Prix du Moulin winner Aqlaam in the Prix Jacques Le Marois two weeks later at the same track.

Longchamp in October was the setting for a shock defeat as Goldikova tracked a scorching pace and then attempted to strike for home two and a half furlongs out in the seven-furlong Prix de la Foret. She was headed 50 yards from the line as Varenar and Sweet Hearth took first and second. That reversal was forgotten when Goldikova’s trademark extra gear allowed her to quicken from the rear and storm past rivals with a wide run to victory in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile, again at Santa Anita. In succeeding for the second time at the Thoroughbred World Championships, Goldikova emulated another great French mare, Miesque, whom Freddy Head had ridden to both of her Breeders’ Cup Mile wins.

Goldikova commenced 2010 with victory over Byword in the nine-furlong Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp in May, and held off Paco Boy by a neck to win the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot after again showing great acceleration at a critical point. She landed a third consecutive win in the Prix Rothschild when slamming Music Show by three lengths and was sent off odds-on to win a second Prix Jacques le Marois. But on very soft ground, she found Makfi to be in devastating form and crossed the line second, two and a half lengths behind the Classic-winning colt.
Goldikova’s latest start resulted in one of her most impressive wins as she returned to Longchamp to banish the ghost of her Prix de la Foret defeat 12 months earlier. This time, there was no doubt about the outcome. Olivier Peslier, her ever-present rider, went to the front on Goldikova before taking a tug and allowing Regal Parade to go on at the top of the straight. Goldikova manoeuvred around Regal Parade with a furlong remaining and sprinted. Old rival Paco Boy gave chase but the mare was always in command to score by half a length. She is on target to try and win a record third consecutive TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Race Record: Starts: 20; Wins: 14; 2nd: 3; 4th: 2; Win & Place Prize Money: £3,069,212