Retiring Cloud gets Head's praise Freddie Head paid tribute to Moonlight Cloud after the great mare left his stables on Wednesday morning and headed into retirement. The six-year-old failed to sign off her career with a victory when she could only finish sixth in the Hong Kong Mile, but before that had won three consecutive Group Ones in France in sensational style. Moonlight Cloud won landed six Group Ones in all and excelled at Deauville, where she claimed three consecutive renewals of the Prix Maurice de Gheest and a Prix Jacques le Marois. But perhaps her most impressive display came in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp in October when she showed the sort of acceleration not seen very often. Head said: "She was a great mare, probably one of the best I've trained, but when you've also trained Goldikova it is difficult to say that she was definitely the best. "Let's say that she was definitely in the same league. What she did at Deauville (winning Group Ones on successive weekends) this season was amazing. "She had a lot of class, maybe not quite the same amount of stamina as Goldikova, but she had a very smart turn of foot. She stayed an extended seven furlongs but a mile just stretched her. It is very difficult to compare them, they were both exceptional. "She's going to visit Galileo and I just hope I'm not too old to train her babies! "Goldikova has a yearling by Galileo, and she has visited him again since. The yearling looks very nice, very much like Goldikova. "I'm sure Moonlight Cloud will produce nice foals, too. She was a lovely horse to train and I've got some great memories of her, the acceleration she showed in the Foret will live with me a long time. It will be hard to come across another one as good as those two but we'll keep trying."
