Andrew Caulfield, August 5, 2008–Goldikova (Ire) P EDIGREE INSIGHTS Aug. 3 was another Danzig Day, with Danzig's stallion sons being responsible for major winners in BY ANDREW CAULFIELD three different countries. Anabaa set the ball rolling when his highly progressive daughter Goldikova PRIX ROTHSCHILD (EX PRIX D=ASTARTE)-G1, defeated a vintage field of distaffers in the G1 Prix i250,000, Deauville, 8-3, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:37.50, sf. Rothschild. Next to pick up the ball was Langfuhr, 1--sGOLDIKOVA (IRE), 123, f, 3, by Anabaa whose son Marlang led throughout to land the final leg 1st Dam: Born Gold, by Blushing Groom (Fr) of the Canadian Triple Crown, and then Boundary 2nd Dam: Riviere d=Or, by Lyphard completed a tremendous treble when Big Brown had to 3rd Dam: Gold River (Fr), by Riverman work much harder than his odds suggested to land the O/B-Wertheimer & Frere; T-Freddy Head; J-Olivier GI Haskell Invitational. For good measure, the G1 Peslier; i142,850. Lifetime Record: 7 starts, 4 wins, German Oaks fell to Rosenreihe, a filly from the first 3 places, i400,030. *1/2 to Gold Round (Ire) crop by Danzig's grandson Catcher In The Rye. Of (Caerleon), MGSW-Fr; Born Something (Ire) course this sequence came only eight days after the (Caerleon), GSP-Fr, MSP-US, $153,270; Red Tune previous Danzig Day, when two other sons of Danzig-- (Fr) (Green Tune), GSP-Fr, $101,739; and Gold Danehill and Belong To Me--were respectively Sound (Fr) (Green Tune), GSW-Fr, SW-US, $289,406. responsible for the Group 1 winners Duke of Marmalade and Forever Together. Click for the eNicks report and 5-cross pedigree. Goldikova's recent Group victories at Chantilly and Werk Nick Rating: A. Deauville were gained with such assurance that it is Click for the Racing Post chart or the free brisnet.com possible that the daughter of Anabaa is now a better catalogue-style pedigree. filly than when she was placed behind the unbeaten Forget Groundhog Day. What could be described as Zarkava in the French classics. Her victories also Danzig Day recurs nearly as frequently, with suggest that she is much more at home at a mile than descendants of the great Claiborne stallion popping up over the 1 5/16 miles of the Prix de Diane, and this regularly in the day's feature races, in much the same would be in line with her excellent pedigree. way that Punxsutawney Phil emerges every Feb. 2. Caulfield cont. www.coolmore.com Caulfield cont. However his grandsires Northern Dancer and Gay Mecene were, respectively, Group 1 winners over 1 1/4 A member of a family which has done sterling work miles and 1 9/16 miles. When Balbonella was mated to for the Wertheimers for several generations, Goldikova Danzig's son Chief's Crown, she produced the versatile is by a champion sprinter and her dam, Born Gold, is a Key of Luck, sire of the Irish Derby winner Alamshar. sister to Gold Splash, winner of two of Europe's most Anabaa follows Danehill and Green Desert as the prestigious mile prizes for fillies, the Prix Marcel third son of Danzig to sire a top winner from a daughter Boussac and Coronation S. You can get some idea of of Blushing Groom, the predecessors being the the quality of this female line from the fact that American GI winners Light Jig and White Heart. Goldikova's Group-placed half-sister Born Something Another Group winner bred to a similar pattern is was sold for 820,000gns as a three-year-old in 2001. Danzigaway, dam of the Wertheimer-bred Grade II Anabaa--who also cropped up Sunday as the winner Silent Name, now a resident at Adena Springs. broodmare sire of Silver Frost, winner of the G3 Prix de An interesting link between Sunday's three big Cabourg--spent the 2007 season at a fee of $40,000 at winners by sons of Danzig is that all three are inbred to Castleton Lyons in Kentucky. The transfer of this Northern Dancer. Goldikova and Marlang are inbred champion sprinter looked a good idea at a time when 3x4; Big Brown is inbred 3x3. The second line of America's steady switch to synthetic surfaces promised Northern Dancer in Goldikova's pedigree comes via to favor fast horses with turf backgrounds. However, a Lyphard, who sired her distinguished second dam, book of 54 mares seems to tell another story, and Riviere d'Or, from the even more distinguished Gold Anabaa was transferred permanently back to Haras du River. Quesnay in France. French breeders must be glad to This outstanding daughter of Riverman was the have him back, as his 2008 group winners include luckless victim when lightning struck a Kentucky paddock in 1986. Gold River was only nine and had Goldikova, Group 2 winner Loup Breton and Group 3 only four foals, but she left a legacy worthy of a mare winner Hapsburg (plus Group 1 and Group 2 winners in whose racecourse exploits included victories in the Prix Australia). He currently ranks third on France's leading Royal-Oak, Prix du Cadran (over 2 1/2 miles) and the sires' list, having finished second to Danehill last year, Arc. when he was champion sire of juveniles. Needless to say, Gold River was given every chance For a horse capable of siring plenty of two-year-old as a broodmare, her foals being by Northern Dancer, winners, Anabaa is very versatile, getting winners over Nijinsky, Lyphard and Nureyev. Gold River's death came a wide range of distances. His latest Australian Group 1 at about the time her Northern Dancer colt Chercheur winner, Imananabaa, captured the Railway Stakes over d'Or won the G3 Prix du Lys to become the first of her six furlongs but he had earlier been represented by such three stakes winners. as Teranaba, winner of the AJC Spring Champion Both of her other stakes winners, the Lyphard filly Stakes over 1 1/4 miles and Headturner, hero of the Riviere d'Or and the Nureyev colt Goldneyev, were AJC Australian Derby over 1 1/2 miles. good enough to take the runner-up spot in a French It has been a similar story in Europe. At the higher Classic. Goldneyev (later to sire the Wertheimers' very end of the distance scale he's been represented by a good miler Gold Away) was second in the Poule d'Essai Prix du Jockey-Club winner in Anabaa Blue and a Prix des Poulains, whereas Riviere d'Or took second in the Vermeille runner-up in Ana Marie. Such success would Prix de Diane after winning the G1 Prix Saint-Alary. have been hard to predict on the basis of the racing Both of Gold River's daughters have made their mark records of Anabaa and of his fast dam, Balbonella. as broodmares, with Riviere d'Or leading the way as the dam of Gold Splash. Gold Splash's combination of first-rate pedigree and performance earned her repeat GOLDIKOVA, f, 2005 visits to such as Danzig, Storm Cat and Deputy Minister Nearctic but it was only this year, 18 years after her birth, that Northern Dancer Natalma she was finally represented by a stakes winner (the Danzig Admiral’s Voyage French-based Royal Academy colt Royal God). Pas de Nom Petitioner (GB) This is in sharp contrast to the success enjoyed by Anabaa *Vaguely Noble her year-younger sister Born Gold. Born Gold was Gay Mecene Gay Missile distinctly ordinary on the track--she had to travel to Balbonella (Fr) Riverman Jallais in the French Provinces to get her head in front-- Bamieres (Fr) Bergamesque (Fr) but she has proved easily the better broodmare, *Nasrullah Goldikova being her third group winner from nine Red God Spring Run runners. Blushing Groom (Fr) Wild Risk (Fr) Goldikova's victory in the Prix Rothschild means that Born Gold Runaway Bride 7-1-2-0, $14,002 Aimee (GB) she has emulated her third, fourth and fifth dams-- 11Fls, 3GSW, Northern Dancer Riviere d'Or, Gold River and Glaneuse--by becoming a Lyphard 2GSP Riviere d’Or Goofed Group 1 winner. Remarkably, all these fillies raced for G1SW, $301,111 the Wertheimer family and were all trained by members 8Fls, 1G1SW Gold River (Fr) Riverman 4Fls, 2GSW, 1SW Glaneuse (Fr) of the Head family--an achievement of which all concerned should be very proud..