When assessing a first-season sire’s credentials and weighing up value, the go-to measure generally starts with observing his sire, scanning his dam and his female line, zeroing in on his race record and then mentally ticking boxes: colour, markings, height, girth, hip-to-tail, kind eye, nice head, how like the sire is he?
And once this mental checklist is ticked you then place the stallion in the in-group and consider him as a potential suitor. Well, this is a stallion who passes the mental checklist!
Standing his first southern hemisphere season at Kelvinside is Palace Pier a world Champion Miler, a five-time G1 winner and the best son of sire sensation Kingman.
Palace Pier and John Gosden, who also trained Kingman
SOME ARE BORN GREAT . . .
Palace Pier sold for 600,000gns (AU$1.15 million*) at the 2018 Tattersalls Book 1 yearling sale. John Gosden said after signing for the purchase: "He was a very attractive yearling and I bought him because he had all the attributes you want to see in a yearling.”
Having trained his sire Kingman to win four G1 races, Gosden obviously saw plenty of his former Horse of the Year in the well-bred colt.
Palace Pier’s demeanour complemented his physique ensuring the colt was able to handle the rigors of stable life. Under the meticulous expertise of the father-son training combination John and Thady Gosden, he commenced his career with an impressive 3.75-length maiden victory at Sandown.
Palace Pier followed that up at the same track and 1,400m distance with a 4.5-length win second-up, defying the weight penalty of 134 pounds (60.8kg) imposed following his first-up romp, before being sent to the paddock for the winter. A colt with unlimited potential.
Interestingly Kingman also had two starts as a juvenile for two wide-margin wins.
Palace Pier defeating Pinatubo (blue silks) in the G1 St James's Stakes
SOME ACHIEVE GREATNESS . . .
Palace Pier fulfilled all that potential and more in his three-year-old season. G1 wins in the St James’s Palace Stakes and the Prix Jacques le Marois saw him crowned Champion Three-Year-Old.
Further examination of the St James’s Palace Stakes reveals he defeated the previous season’s Champion Two-Year-Old Pinatubo in a dominant display and in doing so he joined his own sire as well as leading stallions Shamardal and Frankel as winners of this illustrious event on the first day of Royal Ascot.
His next victory in the Prix Jacques le Marois, a race won previously by champions Dubawi, Dubai Millennium and once again Kingman cemented Palace Pier’s position at the top of the European rankings, defeating older G1 winners in superb style.
Palace Pier once again emulated his sire Kingman by being crowned Champion Three-Year-Old of his generation.
Palace Pier parading at John and Thady Gosden's yard
..AND SOME HAVE GREATNESS THRUST UPON THEM.
With the ability, soundness and temperament to train on at four, Palace Pier began his final campaign with an eight-length masterclass in the G2 Sandown Mile. Four weeks later he won the G1 Lockinge Stakes and he headed back to Royal Ascot as raging hot 2/7 ($1.28 in Australian terms) favourite against the best milers in Europe. Punters certainly knew how good he was.
He easily recorded his second Royal victory taking out the opening race on Tuesday’s card, the G1 Queen Anne Stakes by 1.5 lengths.
In August Palace Pier returned to Deauville to become the first horse in 25 years to win back-to-back runnings of the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois.
A neck behind rising superstar Baaeed in his final start in Ascot’s G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes saw Palace Pier end his career with a jaw-dropping record of 11 starts for nine victories and five wins at G1 level – a race record the envy of any breeder, owner, trainer or colts syndicate.
Palace Pier won the Cartier Older Horse award yesterday, but what race in his career stood out the most for trainer Thady Gosden? pic.twitter.com/GuDcUB1fnT
His triumphant four-year-old season further added the title of Cartier Champion Older Horse to his Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Miler titles. His rider Frankie Dettori declared him “one of the best milers I’ve ridden… and I’ve ridden a few.”
Following the retirement of Palace Pier, his dam Beach Frolic was purchased by M.V. Magnier at the 2021 Tattersalls December Mare Sale for 2.2 million-gns (AU$4.04 million*) in foal to Blue Point. Magnier opined at the time of purchase: "She is a special mare; they don't come up very often. Palace Pier is a very special horse, an exceptional horse.”
To summarise the appeal of Palace Pier;
He's a five-time G1-winning son of Kingman
Stands at just over 16HH
He surpassed the elite-level wins of his sire, Kingman
Was a AU$1.15-million yearling
Crowned Champion Three-Year-Old, Champion Miler and Champion Older Horse
And he’s available on a limited book at Kelvinside in New South Wales.
Tattersalls: Coolmore’s MV Magnier goes to 2,200,000gns for Beach Frolic, the dam of Palace Pier. The daughter of Nayef will visit Galileo in 2021. pic.twitter.com/zkvuduoKDo
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