Gold Luck is a pattern-winning half-sister to Goldikova

GOLD LUCK (FR) - 2014 bay filly

One of the best bred horses in training became a pattern winner this afternoon as Gold Luck got her nose in front on the line to beat Monroe Bay and Hebah in a three-way photo for the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux over nine furlongs at Chantilly.

This was a promising effort from the previously twice-raced stakes-placed winner and the Wertheimer brothers' homebred, who is trained by Freddy Head, is now one of the leading candidates for potential classic honours in France this year.

Clearly plenty of improvement is needed, but this daughter of Australian champion sire Redoute's Choice (by Danehill), who shuttled from Arrowfields Stud in New South Wales to Haras de Bonneval in both 2013 and 2014, is out of Born Gold (by Blushing Groom) and that makes her a half-sister to one of the great fillies of the turf.

Her dam is a full-sister to Gold Splash and although that sibling won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes and Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac and finished third in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas), Born Gold won just once and that was as a four-year-old. Their respective race records would have suggested that the more talented of the pair had the greater potential as a broodmare but things have turned out the other way around.

Gold Splash is the dam of a listed winner – Royal God (by Royal Academy) - and she is the grandam of the Grade 3-placed stakes winning miler Sweet Acclaim (by Acclamation), but Born Gold has given us Gold Sound (by Green Tune), Gold Round (by Caerleon), Anodin (by Anabaa), Galikova (by Galileo) and, of course, the great Goldikova (by Anabaa).

Gold Sound won the Group 3 Prix de Guiche whereas Gold Round won the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre and is the dam of the Group 3 scorers Goldwaki (by Dalakhani) and Golden Valentine (by Dalakhani). Galikova won the Group 1 Prix Vermeille, was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks), and her first foal is the three-year-old Galikeo (by Dansili), who has been runner-up in both his starts to date.

Goldikova, a Timeform 133-rated triple French champion, won 17 times in a glittering international career that included four wins in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild, three editions of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile, two runnings of the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, and one each of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, Group 1 Falmouth Stakes, Group 1 Prix de la Foret, Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, and Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois.

Her lightly-raced four-year-old Goldikovic (by Galileo) finished third in a seven and a half furlong Chantilly maiden in February and her second produce is the Freddy Head-trained three-year-old Terrakova (by Galileo) whose only start to date resulted in a three and a half-length victory over nine furlongs on the polytrack at Chantilly in November.

Anodin, a full-brother to Goldikova, achieved a Timeform rating of 124, he won the Group 3 Prix Paul de Moussac, was placed in each of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile, Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois, Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, and Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, and he covered 138 mares in his first season at Haras du Quesnay, some of the results from which will be at the yearling sales this summer and autumn.

Born Gold and Gold Splash were among three winners from eight foals out of the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner and Group 1 Prix de Diane runner-up Riviere d'Or (by Lyphard) and their winning sibling could be described as being their three-parts sister because Gold Bust is a daughter of Nashwan (by Blushing Groom).

She has produced only four winners from 11 foals of racing age but one of her unsuccessful daughters is Beyond Compare (by Galileo) who is compensating for her lack of racing talent by excelling at stud. Three of her first four foals are winners and they include Australian Group 3 scorer Beyond Thankful (by Whipper) and his younger half-sister Turret Rocks (by Fastnet Rock).

Jim Bolger bred and trains that four-year-old, who won the Group 2 May Hill Stakes and was runner-up to Ballydoyle in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp as a juvenile. Fourth behind Seventh Heaven in the Group 1 Irish Oaks was the closest she got to being in the frame in four starts at three, but she holds a string of big-race entries over the next two months, including the Group 2 Camelot Irish EBF Mooresbridge Stakes, Group 2 Betfred Middleton Stakes, and Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup, so is clearly still held in high regard.

The third dam of Gold Luck is Gold River (by Riverman) and that Timeform 132-rated champion won the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, and Group 1 Prix du Cadran.

There are plenty of other talented horses in the family but the stars noted above are more than enough to show why this young filly has the potential to become one of the leaders of her generation and, later, to excel at stud.