SOME well-regarded fillies were put in their place at Deauville yesterday as Freddie Head landed his third Group 1 race of the season with Goldikova in the Prix Rothschild.
Formerly run as the Prix d'Astarte, the one-mile event attracted a stellar line-up that included the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained pair of Darjina and Royal Ascot winner Sabana Perdida, Mark Johnston's Falmouth winner Nahoodh and the 1,000 Guineas win
ner Natagora.
But it was the unheralded Goldikova, who has been beaten twice by Royer-Dupre's star Zarkava already this season, who ran out an emphatic winner. Head also ran Spring Touch as a pacemaker for the winner but, with the trail-blazing Natagora in the field, she could not even get to the front.
It did not seem to matter to Olivier Peslier's mount, as she sat on the tail of Natagora and quickened impressively inside the final furlong. The Guineas winner had no response but Darjina, conceding 7lb to the winner, came from the rear of the field and got within half a length, mainly due to the fact that Goldikova appeared to drift to the right.
Nahoodh failed to reproduce her best form and finished fourth while David Elsworth's Barshiba was sixth.
Head, also on the mark at the top level with Marchand D'Or and Tamayuz in a memorable summer, added: "She is an exceptional filly as she has a lot of speed. She was able to follow the pace without being keen. I did expect a performance of this calibre because she has progressed a lot since the spring."
Patrick Barbe, racing manager to Natagora's owner Stefan Friborg, said: "Natagora did not run her race today."
At Chester, Kevin Ryan's Green Manalishi gained his second successive victory in the Listed Childrens Adventure Farm Queensferry Stakes under a splendid ride from Paul Hanagan. He was partnering the 7-2 joint-favourite for the first time and brought him with a sustained run to collar Invincible Force inside the last 100 yards and then hold fellow market leader Damika.
The full article contains 346 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
