NEWS
Goldikova wins Prix du Moulin, Henrythenavigator fifth
Posted: Sunday, September 07, 2008 2:18 PM
GOLDIKOVA (far left) DEFEATS STELLAR FIELD AT LONGCHAMP
Racing Post photo
by Desmond Stoneham
Dual classic winner Henrythenavigator did not handle the ground at Longchamp on Sunday and finished fifth in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (Fr-G1), which was won by rapidly improving Goldikova.
Fillies took the first two places in the one-mile race as Alain and Gerard Wertheimer's Goldikova, given a brilliant ride by Olivier Peslier, held on well to beat the Princess Zahra Aga Khan's Darjina by a half-length.
Improving Paco Boy was a fast-finishing third, followed by Sageburg and Henrythenavigator, who found his best stride inside the final furlong but tasted defeat for the first time this season.
Peslier always had Prix Rothschild (Fr-G1) winner Goldikova well positioned. She dueled with Darjina from about 1 1/2 furlongs out and the fillies had the race to themselves.
Freddie Head is in the midst of a stellar season as he won his sixth Group 1 race in a period of less than two months. Head, 61, started training in 1998, and he had to wait until 2006 before Marchand d'Or gave him his first success at the highest level.
"With Goldikova and Tamayuz in my stable, I probably have the two best three-year-old milers in Europe and I am very lucky to have such horses under my care,” Head said. “The target now for Goldikova is the [Sentient] Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) or the [Emirates Airline Breeders Cup Fillies and Mare Turf (G1)] at Santa Anita. I feel she will stay further than a mile as she was third in the [Prix de] Diane [(Fr-G1) (French Oaks)]."
Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre will look for firmer ground for Darjina, who finished second in a Group 1 race for the fifth time this season.
"If the ground is decent at Ascot, Darjina could go for the [Sony] Queen Elizabeth II Stakes [(Eng-G1)] at Ascot [on September 27] but it has been testing for her last two visits," he said.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien said the decision to run Henrythenavigator in the Prix du Moulin was a difficult one.
"It was really a last minute decision to run Henrythenavigator, and it was a close one,” O'Brien said of Henrythenavigator, who won each of his four previous starts this year. “He just loves fast going and the top was coming off the ground in today's race. He just couldn't get hold of it and it blunted his speed. The colt could never engage top gear. We will now have a look at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot."
Desmond Stoneham is a France-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
