[/caption]Six time champion, and 2010 European Cartier Horse of the Year, Goldikova, will attempt to rebound from a second place effort in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes behind Canford Cliffs when she takes on seven other fillies and mares in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville in France. Countless times the great race mare has shown incredible courage and determination while capturing an incredible 13 Group/Grade 1 races during her stellar international career. On Sunday she will face females for the first time since capturing last year’s Prix Rothschild while chasing the 14th Group 1 win of her career.
Goldikova began her year with a repeat win in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan before finishing second to Canford Cliffs in a very controversial running of the Queen Anne Stakes. Jockey Olivier Peslier posted two pounds of overweight in the race and seemed to send Goldikova to the lead much earlier than usual in the race, eliminating her usually brilliant turn of foot. She will be heavily favored to win her fourth consecutive Prix Rothschild. Trainer Freddy Head has also entered Flash Dance to ensure a solid pace for Goldikova. Expect to see the great champion back to her best form in the Rothschild, she hasn’t lost two consecutive races since early 2008 and it doesn’t appear she’s about to break that streak now.
Of the seven fillies and mares facing the three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr.1) winner, only four seem mildly able to threaten on paper. The top three finishers in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes, Timepiece, Sahpresa and First City. Also entered is Coronation Stakes runner up, Nova Hawk, the only 3-year-old in the field.
The long-term target for Goldikova will be a return in the Breeders’ Cup Mile this fall at Churchill Downs where she will try to win the prestigious event for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time. The Prix Rothschild should go down as little more than another footnote in the great mare's tale, another notch in her belt. [Originally posted on Horse Racing Nation]
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