By desmond stoneham 5:19PM 16 FEB 2010
France: Goldikova, who has returned in "very good shape" to Freddie Head's stable after a winter break, may be aimed at Royal Ascot at the start of her 2010 campaign.
However, wherever the five-year-old runs in the early part of the year, all roads eventually lead to Churchill Downs as she will be trained specifically for her attempt at an unprecedented hat-trick at the Breeders' Cup, held this year in Kentucky on November 6 after two seasons at Santa Anita.
Goldikova, who has spent the winter at the Wertheimer Brothers' Haras de Saint-Leonard in Normandy, arrived back at Head's Chantilly yard on Tuesday morning.
"Goldikova left the farm this morning," reported the Wertheimers' racing manager Pierre-Yves Bureau.
"She has had a nice break of three months and we find her in very good shape - Goldie appeared to enjoy herself down at the farm and liked the snow."
Seven times a Group 1 winner, the outstanding daughter of Anabaa could easily challenge the great Miesque's European record of ten top-level victories since the Pattern was introduced in 1971.
Bureau added: "The main objective this season is to win a third Breeders' Cup Mile and we don't know where she will start this season although it could be in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
"There aren't many options in the early part of the year but in the summer we have the Falmouth Stakes, the Rothschild and Jacques Le Marois at Deauville before the Breeders' Cup but it is too early to speak about any definite plans."
After chasing the brilliant Zarkava in the French Classics in 2008, Goldikova made headlines of her own with three Group/Grade 1s winsculminating in her first victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile.
She added four more top-level wins to her tally last year, among them a memorable second success at the Breeders' Cup
