Now Goldikova has chance to justify Head's high opinion; BREEDERS' CUP 2008.

Byline: Jon Lees

8.15 Santa Anita

Breeders' Cup Mile

1m RUK/ATR Card pullout p9

IF ANYBODY else says it, you might laugh it off, but if Freddie Head says it, you have to take it very seriously.

When the Frenchman tells the world that Goldikova could be as good as Miesque, it suggests his three-year-old is not one to oppose lightly in the Breeders' Cup Mile, even at short odds.

For Head was on board when the wonder filly beat the colts in this world championship event in both 1987 and 1988, and he is now bidding to become the first person to win a race at this meeting as both jockey and trainer.

There is every chance he will make history this evening in a race won by another French filly, Six Perfections, here five years ago.

Goldikova has looked right at home at the top table of late, landing Group 1 races on her last two starts and appearing to score with something to spare when taking the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp last month.

But although putative European mile champion Raven's Pass and the Moulin fourth Henrythenavigator both miss this race to tackle the Classic, Goldikova will still have to be at the top of her game to see off last year's winner Kip Deville.

The five-year-old has been trained with a repeat victory in mind and, although he was beaten at Woodbine on his latest appearance, his trainer Rick Dutrow could not be more bullish with regard to the horse's bid to emulate Da Hoss's two victories - in 1996 and 1998.

The July Cup runner-up US Ranger is stepped up to 1m for the first time since he finished seventh in last year's 2,000 Guineas. He bids to give Aidan O'Brien his first win in this race.

Bobby Frankel believes Precious Kitten was unsuited by making the running on her last appearance, while Daytona is unbeaten in three runs at what is his home track.

What they say Kiaran McLaughlin, trainer of Shakis "He's doing great and he's a pretty good traveller. There wasn't anything at ten furlongs, so it wasn't much of a decision to go in the Mile. We just hope he gets to run his race."

Rick Dutrow, trainer of Kip Deville "The hardest part of my job with Kip at this point is figuring how much money I'm going to bet on him to win. I'm counting my money right now. There was only one race that meant anything to us all year, and that was this race."

Bobby Frankel, trainer of Precious Kitten "She's my sleeper. She got sent to the lead last time, but we've got to keep her off the lead. She runs her best races from off it. She's been getting great numbers and she's fast, very fast. She can run with those colts, no problem."

Freddie Head, trainer of Goldikova "I don't say she is as good as Miesque, but she could be. She is a true champion. She has everything to run well. She has a lot of speed and is very easy to ride.

We are not used to running on such hard dry turf, but I think that will be okay. I don't think that will stop her."

Dan Hendricks, trainer of Daytona "His works have all been real good, real solid. He is fresh. He is raring to go. He has got good natural speed. It just depends how fast all the jocks want to go. If they go a little too fast it is going to hurt us all up front. But if they are reasonable it will set up real well for us. We have won three from three here at Santa Anita - he likes the course."

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of US Ranger "We tried to sprint him and he was just beaten in the July Cup, which was a big run. Maybe because we forced him too much he just went down a little bit, so that's why we are stepping him up in trip. You would prefer in an ideal world that he was drawn a little bit more inside so he could get a little more cover, but he's in good form."

Bill Morey jnr, trainer of Bold Chieftain "This is a big step up, we understand that, but the owners want to give it a try and I'm not in the business of spoiling their dreams. This horse brings his game every time. You've got to like him for that. And if he runs to the race he put in at Del Mar, you'll hear from him. I'm not saying we're going to win it, but we'll be heard from."

Bill Mott, trainer of War Monger "He's run in some good races and he's hit some tracks that weren't ideal and maybe some pace scenarios that didn't suit him perfectly.

We're going to have to have a fairly ideal pace scenario and track condition. Given everything, with a nice smooth trip he's in with a chance to get a paycheck."

Dale Romans, trainer of Thorn Song "We're just going to go. If someone wants to come with us, they're sacrificing themselves. It doesn't matter if he's on the lead, he doesn't need it. He just has that high cruising pace. He has natural speed and can sustain it. I don't think he's ever trained any better."

John Sadler, trainer of Whatsthescript "The 11 stall is not great for him.

His style is to stalk, so I hope that he can drop in and not lose a lot of ground and make his run."

CAPTION(S):

Britain's main Marathon contender Sixties Icon led by trainer Jeremy Noseda at Santa Anita this week