Palace Pier Retains Le Marois Crown

In France on Sunday, Juddmonte Farm’s stallion Kingman (Invincible Spirit) celebrated yet another Group 1 progeny win when this season’s redoubtable European miler made it back-to-back wins in Deauville’s Gr1 Jacques Le Marois (1600m). Undefeated this season, and already boasting 4YO wins in the Gr1 Lockinge Stakes (mile), Gr1 Queen Anne Stakes (mile) and Gr2 Sandown Mile, Palace Pier was still pretty backable to repeat his 3YO Le Marois success for trainers John and Thady Gosden. The fact he was only just in the red was due to justified respect for exceptional Jim Bolger-trained and owned 3YO Poetic Flare (Dawn Approach). Palace Pier’s victory, which left Frankie Dettori to proclaim him as the best miler he has ridden, according to theguardian.com, was anything but assured as the valuable entire had to pull out all stops to deny the fast-closing Poetic Flare. John Gosden will reportedly consider stepping Palace Pier up to 10 furlongs in the Champions’ Stakes at Ascot’s Champions Day meeting in October, however it seems more likely that he’ll clash with Poetic Flare again in the Gr2 QEII Stakes over a mile on the same card. There is also the lure of the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Mile a little later in the year in California, however Gosden was non-committal, saying, “Del Mar is a track I’m very fond of. I’ve had a lot of success there and a lot of good friends there, but that’s a long way down the road at the moment.”