John Gosden's leading three year old Palace Pier is on course for his French debut in the Group One Prix Jacques le Marois, where he will be looking to extend his unbeaten record to five races.
The son of Kingman has been faultless to date, winning both his starts as a juvenile, starting at Sandown back in August winning a nice maiden and then going on to back that up over the same course and distance.
He made his seasonal debut at Newcastle on the all weather seeing off a stern effort from the Richard Fahey trained Acquitted but off the back of that he improved a massive amount to hunt down Pinatubo late in the day at Royal Ascot in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
(Credit ATR) Gosden said: “Palace Pier worked well on Saturday and is looking at the Jacques le Marois, which I said he would go for right after he won the St James’s Palace Stakes.
What a race! Palace Pier wins the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes for @FrankieDettori and John Gosden! #RoyalAscot @Ascot pic.twitter.com/FO18nWrQBc
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 20, 2020
“He is a young horse that is only three and he has only run four times in his life, so to that extent he is a progressive horse.
“Every time you go into these Group Ones it is hard and this time he is taking on older horses, not just three-year-olds.
“He ran great at Ascot and I just think the straight mile at Deauville will really suit him.”
In the future Gosden believes he will get further than the mile but his connections are happy keeping him over that trip, especially for his next outing where he takes on his toughest test of his career.
He added: “We are happy keeping him at a mile, but he will get a mile and a quarter in time.
“You could see that by the way he finished his race at Ascot.”