Goldikova upset at Longchamp

PARIS - Goldikova suffered a shocking defeat at Longchamp on Saturday when the defending Breeders' Cup Mile titleholder finished third to the unheralded Varenar in the Group 1, $373,000 Prix de la Foret.

Breaking widest of all from post 14 in the seven-furlong Group 1 contest, the 2-5 Goldikova was rushed up by Olivier Peslier to press a hot early pace. The move may have proved her undoing as she led three furlongs from home, only to be passed inside the quarter pole. At the line, the 18.60-1 Varenar was a short head in front of Sweet Hearth, with Goldikova another half-length back in third. The winning time on good ground was a not particularly fast 1:19.60. In seeing her three-race Group 1 winning streak come to an end, Goldikova lacked her usual acceleration.

Afterwards, trainer Freddy Head expressed dismay.

"They went a good gallop," Head said. "But that was no excuse. She just didn't quicken. She just wasn't picking up."

Concerning a second trip to Santa Anita for the Mile, Head was more circumspect than he had been in the run-up to the Foret.

"That's still the plan," he said. "but we'll see. Nothing is written in stone."

Soumillon triumphs in return

The Foret undercard provided an equally dramatic and unexpected story as Christophe Soumillon returned to action after having suffered what was thought to be a season-ending broken elbow in a Sept. 9 spill at Amiens.

The Belgian rider suddenly found himself in peak form when he learned that Christophe Lemaire, the man selected to replace him as the Aga Khan's first-string rider next year, had cracked a clavicle riding work on Saturday morning. Soumillon made a quick trip to Deauville to get an official okay to ride, sped back to Longchamp, and rode the winners of two Group 2 races.

The first came aboard the Aga Kan's undefeated Daryakana in the 1 9/16-mile Prix de Royallieu. The Selkirk filly came from last to first to defeat Peinture Rare by 2 1/2 lengths.

A half-hour later, Soumillon was back in the winners' circle on Tamazirte, the French 1000 Guineas runner-up, who prevailed in the one-mile Prix Daniel Wildenstein against older males by a length over Danse Grecque.

In the Group 2 Prix Dollar at 1 1/8 miles, 155 yards, the John Gosden-trained Pipedreamer sprung an 8.30-1 upset with a neck victory over Gris de Gris. Stotsfold, who finished fourth, beaten only three-quarters of a length, ran very much the same race he had when finishing third in the Arlington Million.