Given that there have only ever been 33 race days under the Breeders' Cup banner, you'd think the chances of history repeating itself quite so closely as it has in the cases of French mares Miesque and Goldikova would be slim.
We should all be familiar with Goldikova's story (if not, there's always this refresher course), but a much longer time has passed since Miesque was last seen on a racecourse. Winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac as a juvenile, she powered home to win the 1,000 Guineas in 1987 before following up in the French equivalent, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches; that feat has been matched only twice since. She would lose the Prix de Diane to another top-notch filly in Indian Skimmer (incidentally, Goldikova suffered the same fate behind Zarkava 21 years later) before landing both the Jacques Le Marois and the Moulin, though she was beaten by Milligram in the QEII before heading to Hollywood Park for the Breeders' Cup.
One of the similarities between Goldikova and Miesque you won't find in the formbook is in their racing styles. Both were generally ridden prominently, waiting for a chance to unleash a potent turn of foot and put the race to bed. No time did Miesque demonstrate hers better than in the 1987 Breeders' Cup Mile, when she was taken the daring route up the inside, yet settled the race in a matter of strides inside the final furlong, jockey Freddie Head easing up close home.
Freddie Head is, of course, the strongest link in the chain between Miesque and Goldikova. He was Miesque's regular rider throughout her career and, when Goldikova won her first Mile in 2008, he became the first man to both ride and train a Breeders' Cup winner.
Straight after the 1987 Mile, it was announced that Miesque would stay in training with a then-unprecedented second Breeders' Cup title her principal aim. Her four-year-old campaign was fairly light, with wins in the Prix d'Ispahan and Jacques Le Marois and a second-placed finish (to Soviet Star) in the Moulin before she came to Churchill Downs.
Rain in the 24 hours before the race was seen to be against Miesque ahead of the 1988 Breeders' Cup, but it scarcely showed. If anything, the looser ground meant that Miesque's change of pace took a few strides longer to kick in, but once it did there was no doubt over the result, Miesque and Head coming home four lengths ahead of Steinlen.
Retired immediately after the race, praise for Miesque was universal, Timeform's essay in 'Racehorses of 1988' giving her a ringing endorsement. And why not? She was top-class, consistent, won lots of Group/Grade 1s and had both a high cruising speed and vicious turn of foot. We wouldn't see her like again.
Well, not for 20 or so years, anyway.