Palace Pier (horse)

Frankie Dettori rode Palace Pier on both of his races in 2019. The colt began his track career in a maiden race over seven furlongs at Sandown Park on 30 August when he started the 11/8 favourite and won by three and three quarter lengths after taking the lead a furlong from the finish and drawing away from his opponents in the closing stages.[4] On 18 September, over the same course and distance, the colt started at odds of 1/8 for a novice race (for horses with no more than two previous wins) in which he led from the start and won by four and a half lengths from Mars Landing despite being eased down in the final furlong.[5]

The flat racing season in England was disrupted by the COVID-19 Pandemic and Palace Pier did not make his reappearance until 6 June when he carried top weight of 131 pounds in a handicap race over one mile on the synthetic Tapeta at Newcastle Racecourse. Ridden by Robert Havlin he started the 11/10 favourite and won in "impressive" style by three lengths after coming from well off the pace to take the lead inside the final furlong.[6] Two weeks after his win at Newcastle the colt was stepped up sharply in class to contest the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in which he was partnered by Dettori and started at odds of 4/1. Pinatubo started favourite while the other five runners included Wichita (second in the 2000 Guineas), Positive (Solario Stakes), Threat (Gimcrack Stakes), Arizona (Coventry Stakes) and Royal Dornoch (Royal Lodge Stakes). After starting slowly and racing towards the rear of the field Palace Pier began to make progress on the final turn, moved into contention a furlong out, and overtook Pinatubo in the closing stages to win "readily" by a length.[7] After the race John Gosden said "The race panned out well. Frankie said he wanted to ride him a little cold and settle him... It was no fluke, he is a very talented horse... It's a stiff old mile at Ascot and he showed his stamina" before indicating that the colt would be aimed at the Prix Jacques Le Marois.[8] Dettori, who was winning his 73rd race at Royal Ascot commented "It was hard to really get him fit, but John thought let's start him in a handicap which should wake him up, and it did... We always thought a lot of Palace Pier but his work in the spring wasn't what we thought it could've been, but since Newcastle he's turned a page. I expect him to improve".[9]

On 16 August Palace Pier was matched against older horses for the first time when he was sent to France to contest the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois over 1600 metres on heavy ground at Deauville Racecourse. With Dettori in the saddle he went off the 1.3/1 favourite ahead of six opponents including Persian King, Alpine Star, Circus Maximus and Romanised. After being restrained towards the rear of the field he made rapid progress to take the lead 200 metres from the finish and held off the sustained challenge of Alpine Star to win by three quarters of a length with a gap of five lengths back to Circus Maximus in third.[10] Gosden, who watched the race on television in England owing to quarantine rules said "He's never even worked on soft ground. It was a bit of a shock to him. He's impressed me with his courage. I know he's got a bundle of ability, but fully at the 600 meters where they join the main track, I saw Frankie's hands having to nurse him, and I thought, 'Uh-oh … he's hating this ground,' and I don't think he liked it one bit. But he just showed a lot of class and guts to get the job done. We've got to be thrilled with him".[11]

On his final run of the season Palace Pier started the odds-on favourite for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over one mile at Ascot on 17 October. He recovered from a poor start to move up into a challenging position two furlongs out but after losing a shoe he was unable to maintain his run and finished third behind The Revenant and Roseman.[12]

On 19 November Palace Pier was named Champion Three-year-old Colt at the Cartier Racing Awards.[13] In the 2020 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Palace Pier was rated on 125, making him the equal third best racehorse in the world and the best three-year-old in Europe.[14]