HEAD SAVOURS GOLD-EN MOMENT
By Martin Kelly, Press Association Sport, Santa Anita
Freddie Head left California the proud owner of four Breeders' Cup Mile trophies after the rider of two-timer winner Miesque saddled Goldikova to a brace of victories in the 2009 renewal at Santa Anita.
The jockey-turned-trainer landed the prize twice in the late 1980s aboard Miesque and made history as Goldikova defied her draw out wide in stall 11 for a phenomenal success.
The four-year-old had been odds-on prior to her coffin box posting and her gate position allowed her to break at an eye-watering 13-8 under Olivier Peslier.
Peslier tucked the market leader in behind runners before making his move of the final turn and his classy partner sprouted wings down the centre to cement herself as an all-time great.
Six Perfections was another French filly to defy a double-figure draw here in 2003 and Goldikova matched her withering finishing run to bag her seventh Group One success.
Head said: "I don't have the words to express how I feel. To ride a horse like Miesque and now train a horse like Goldikova is something you can only dream of.
"We wanted to cover her up and relax her. I wasn't concerned during the race but it is difficult to give ground away.
"Olivier said he was always confident during the race and knew he would win turning in."
A return to the Breeders' Cup in 2010 remains a possibility for Goldikova and William Hill make her a 5-1 chance to claim next year's Mile.
Conduit was another to defend his crown as Ryan Moore allowed the flashy chestnut to unleash his trademark finishing kick to run down Presious Passion in the Turf.
The latter opened up a handy lead with his pacey front-running tactics only for Moore to eat away at the advantage and the 10-11 favourite pounced inside the distance.
A half-length separated the pair passing the post with Conduit providing Sir Michael Stoute and owners Ballymacoll Stud with their fourth wins in the Turf.
Stoute said: "It's always a big day and these are the world championships. This is a very important race and it's great to see him go and win it twice in a row.
"He won't stay in training next year as he is going to go to stud in Japan.
"We'll see how he comes out of this and take a look and see how he handles the return journey, but we would like to take him to Tokyo for the Japan Cup."
John Gosden knows the Arcadia track like the back of his hand and after scoring in the Classic and Juvenile Turf in 2008, he returned to claim the latter with 3-1 favourite Pounced.
After shunning stable jockey Jimmy Fortune in favour of Frankie Dettori, Gosden was basking in
1million glory after Dettori kicked off the bend to gun down Bridgetown and collect by three-quarters of a length.
The Rahy colt provided Gosden with his fourth Breeders' Cup win some 25 years after the first, and moved Dettori onto the nine-winner mark and into third place in the all-time record of riders at the meeting.
Gosden said: "It is fantastic to win the race for the second year, and it do it at my second home.
"It's not easy to come from where we did but we had a good draw, got the split and got the job done.
"We'll have a think about the Guineas at Newmarket and coming back over here for the Blue Grass is another possibility."
Dettori's employers Godolphin ended a barren Breeders' Cup run stretching back to 2001 as Ahmed Ajtebi pulled Vale Of York out wide to derail Lookin At Lucky's unbeaten run in the Juvenile.
Bob Baffert's Lookin At Lucky was done no favours at the barrier draw ceremony when posting stall 13 of 13, but he almost justified his position as the 3-1 favourite only to be nailed under the wire by Godolphin's 25-1 outsider.
Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said: "He has been running in all of the top European races and he truly deserves his win.
"We will definitely take him back to Dubai and look at the Guineas and the Derby there at Sheikh Mohammed's new Meydan racecourse."We will see after that but the Kentucky Derby is an obvious place to go."
Vale Of York was given a 40-1 quote by Coral for the Run For The Roses.
Baffert added: "The post killed us. We were done no favours by the draw."
California Flag paid the price for setting crazy fractions in the Turf Sprint last year and wilted to 10th, but under a more tender ride Brian Koriner's five-year-old put in a jaw-dropping performance to oblige as the 9-2 favourite.
Koriner said: "To have run over the downhill course before is a big advantage and this is the best win in my career."
Punters were left reeling in the Sprint itself as 25-1 chance Dancing In Silks edged out fellow outsiders Crown Of Thorns and Cost of Freedom by a nose and a head to claim the
2m purse.
Godolphin's 2-1 favourite Gayego endured a rough passage and was a whisker back in fourth, while Baffert's Zensational never got his head and ran down the field.
Julien Leparoux fired in his third winner of the two-day meeting as Furthest Land (16-1) scooped the Dirt Mile, with Aidan O'Brien's 13-8 favourite Mastercraftsman hitting trouble in running en route to his fourth-place finish.
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