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Superstar mare Goldikova took down the boys one more time, winning the $2 million Mile at the Breeders' Cup for the third straight year with a thrilling performance that left eloquent trainer Freddy Head speechless.
''My English is not good enough,'' said Head, who is French. ''It's something unreal. I mean, even in the worst soap opera, you can't imagine anything like that.''
The 5-year-old mare bred in Ireland ran the distance on the turf in 1:35.16 on Saturday at Churchill Downs, providing at least some argument that she - not the remarkable Zenyatta - is the top female in the sport of kings.
Goldikova broke from the 10th post and started slowly, taking her time getting settled. She was sixth with a quarter mile to go before jockey Olivier Peslier sent her after pacesetter Sidney's Candy. In a blink she was in the front, pulling away to beat Gio Ponti by 1 3/4 lengths to become the first horse in the history of the Breeders' Cup to win the same event three times.
''Right now,'' Peslier said, ''she is the best filly in the world.''
She looked like the best miler - once again - by dispatching the rest of the 11-horse field with relative ease. Goldikova paid $4.60 to win as the 6-5 favorite. The victory was her eighth in 11 races against the boys and the 15th of her career.
''The filly is a freak,'' said Gio Ponti's trainer Christophe Clement.
One that never appears to be in a hurry.
Head won the Mile as a jockey in 1987 and '88 aboard the legendary Miesque. More than two decades later, he's found a mare that's even better.
''I think she has everything an athlete can have,'' Head said. ''She's got tremendous nerves. She's very cool. She's got great speed. ... She has always another gear.''
Peslier celebrated what could be Goldikova's final race by tossing the flowers from her victory blanket into the crowd as she walked into the winner's circle.
''On the last turn, she was flying and she kept running,'' Peslier said. ''I don't know the words to describe what it feels to ride a champion like that.''
Gio Ponti, the runner-up in last year's Classic, was second. The Usual Q.T. was third and Ireland-bred Paco Boy fourth.
Paco Boy's assistant trainer Richard Hannon Jr. said earlier in the week he was ''tired of looking at Goldikova's (butt).''
After watching her dominate once more, so is the rest of the field.
''I wish the filly was not in the race,'' Clemente said.
She likely won't be next year. Owners Gerard and Alain Wertheimer say the have ''no idea'' what they'll do once Goldikova returns to Europe. Head hinted earlier in the week there would be nothing left to prove if she came through in the Mile again.
Head declined to speculate on who is horse racing's leading lady, calling it unfair to compare Goldikova to Zenyatta. They usually run on different surfaces at different distances on different continents.
All he knows is that both horses are special. Particularly the one that propelled him into the record books once again.
''It's unreal,'' Head said. ''We don't know how good this filly is. She's extraordinary.''
