Goldikova Beaten
 

into 3rd a in a very weak G1 over 7 in France. Lost to Varenar and Sweet Hearth. Peslier hooks up from the outside with a ridiculous pace..

Any chance it was just a prep for the Mile next month?

yep it most certainly was. positives are that we'll probably get a better price on her winning the mile.. im very relieved as she was just short enough to make me not back her..

When she returned to get unsaddled, the crowd joined in a chorus of "overrated". And if they didn't , they should have.

She's alot of things, but "overrated" is not one of them...

Seen that the U.K. books were pricing her at 4-6 for the BC Mile, running third in a race like this shows she's not on top of her game. I wonder what price she was in that race today.

Here's Freddy Head's comments on the race:

"She did not quicken. Turning into the straight she did not pick up when Peslier asked her, she stayed on at one pace. For the moment, she is going to the Breeders Cup but nothing is definite.

I sure hope she goes. Looks like a very vulnerable favorite who's over the top.

From my view the reason she didnt quicken is she was all used up at the start to get to front far too early. Look where everyone else on the speed finished. Monsieur Peslier rode a shocker.. . If she goes to the mile, she wins..

It was a blanket finish, wherein she finished 1/2 length behind the pair in the photo-finish. See the photo here:
http://www5.france-galop.com/photos/000103100904.jpg

You really need to qualify that with "AND gets the same perfect trip as last year'. Didn't see the race today but it appears that girlie needs that inside stalking/drafting (last move) trip to run her best. Maybe that's why she 'quickened' so nicely in the BC, huh? Not rocket science here. Horses that don't win when they don't get things their own way are TYPICAL.

perfect trip? If I remember correctly, the jockey did everything he could to lose that race last year including getting her blocked and checked a couple times at the top of the stretch.

You cleary didn't look at your Fat Chart for the race.

At what point in the BC Mile of 2008 did Goldikova suffer from a rough trip? The few strides where she had no where to go in my opinion are totally offset by the dream inside run she had for the rest of the race.

She didn't check in my opinion at all, the jockey just couldn't let her loose as early as he wanted, but no matter, she outran Kip Deville to the wire no problem.