John Gosden's Palace Pier will put his unbeaten tag on the line again in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day after the three year old landed back to back Group Ones in the Prix Jacques Le Marois on Sunday.
The mile division this season looks to be the vest for sometime and Palace Pier is certainly at the top of that list.
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.
Having four wins from four races, he put his unbeaten run on the line in what was arguably his toughest event to date and in heavy ground cleared away from the field with the Jessica Harrington trained Alpine Star the closest to him.
🐎 Five races
— The Winners Enclosure (@TWEnclosure) August 17, 2020
🥇 Five wins
🏆 Back to back Group 1s
PALACE PIER enhanced his already growing reputation with a runaway victory in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville yesterday 🐎💨
🤔 Where next for John Gosdens star miler?!
🎬 @AtTheRaces pic.twitter.com/JZE5RyZpAh
(Credit Racing Post) Gosden said:"It's much deeper than in Kingman's year, he's never seen anything like it.
"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 metres where they join the main track I saw Frankie’s hands having to nurse him and I thought 'uh-oh'. I said to Rachel '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."
Gosden is looking at unleashing back on home soil but before that he may race again in France with more Group One glory possibly on the horizon.
He added:"We've got to be thrilled with him and I'd just love to see him back on good to soft. The big target with him now is the QEII. "I don't see him as a Breeders' Cup Mile horse, I really see him as a mile or mile-and-a-quarter horse. I'm not sure about the tight turns of America. My question is rather does he go to the Moulin or not and then it will definitely be the QEII. Quite frankly after that I'd like to put him away for next year.
"I haven’t had great experiences with the turf course at Keeneland and it cost Golden Horn."