Goldikova out to rebound

Goldikova will try to get back on track at Newmarket on Wednesday in a hot renewal of the $323,000 Falmouth Stakes, a Group 1 mile for fillies and mares.

The brilliant winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Mile, Goldikova showed none of her old sparkle when she finished seventh against males in her seasonal debut going a 1/8 miles, 55 yards on soft ground in the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan, so a return to a mile on good to firm ground against her own sex could be just what the doctor ordered. Trainer Freddie Head will employ Olivier Peslier in the saddle.

Spacious, Heaven Sent, and Eva's Request, the first three in the Group 2 Windsor Forest Stakes at Royal Ascot, will test the 4-year-old Goldikova, but perhaps not as much as Rainbow View, the European juvenile filly champion who is coming off a third-place finish in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes behind 1000 Guineas winner Ghanaati, a filly who just might be in the same league as Goldikova. The bookies rate Rainbow View the 3-2 favorite with Goldikova just 3-1 for the straight and undulating mile.

Habaayib, the sharp 1 1/4-length winner of the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, will take a step up to the Group 2, $129,000 Cherry Hinton Stakes, a six-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies in which she will face Misheer, who was runner-up by five lengths to Jealous Again in the five-furlong, Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes. Ceedwell and Capercaillie, third and fourth in the Queen Mary, will also line up in the Cherry Hinton.