Outstanding mare Goldikova, winner of 14 races at the highest level, has died at the age of 16.

A homebred for the Wertheimer brothers, Alain and Gerard, the daughter of Anabaa, out of the Blushing Groom mare Born Gold, was a half-sister to Group 1 heroine Galikova and a number of other stakes performers including Anodin, Gold Sound, Gold Luck and Gold Round.

Entrusted to leading French handler Freddy Head, Goldikova was two from two by the time her two-year-old season had finished in 2007. A year later she hit the frame three times in succession, including a second behind Zarkava in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, before landing the Group 3 Prix Chloe.

That success was a springboard to her first Group/Grade 1 victories in the Prix Rothschild, Prix du Moulin and the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

It was a sign of things to come and at four she added the Falmouth Stakes, Prix Jacques le Marois and a second win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile to her record. Seeming better than ever at five, she won the Prix d’Ispahan, Queen Anne Stakes, a second Prix Rothschild and the Prix de la Foret.

That campaign in 2010 was rounded off with a superb success in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, a victory that ensured her name would live long in the record books as the only horse to win three times at the championships.

Returning to the track aged six in 2011, Goldikova beat Cirrus Des Aigles by a neck to win the Prix d’Ispahan for the second year in a row and recorded a third success in the Prix Rothschild. Her final start saw Goldikova finish a valiant third behind Court Vision as she came up short in her bid to win a fourth Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Wertheimer et Frere’s Racing Manager Pierre-Yves Bureau told Jour de Galop: “It is with immense sadness that we inform you of the death of champion Goldikova on January 5, 2021.

“Goldikova will remain in our memories as our best racemare with her 14 Group 1 wins, among which was a splendid Prix Jacques le Marois in 2009 and her historic triple in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.”

Since retiring to the paddocks, Goldikova produced the Group 3-winning Terrakova. Not in foal this year, she has a three-year-old Dubawi filly called Goldistyle and a two-year-old colt named Lehman. Both are in training with Carlos Laffon-Parias.