Palace Pier

Value Sires Part V: Everything to Prove

For this final part of the series, we are looking at stallions who have retired to stud since 2021 and will thus have either first foals or yearlings at the sales this year or are about to cover their first book of mares. There is plenty to digest from three years' intake and of course prices can often drop after a stallion's first year at stud, so there could be some value to be found for breeders willing to roll the dice on a stallion about to embark on his...

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Observations: Half to Palace Pier Introduced at Newmarket

6.15 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, 8fT CASTLE WAY (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}) makes his debut for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby and is a 425,000gns Book 1 graduate and half-brother to the high-class multiple group 1-winning Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The stable's Lenormand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the mount of William Buick, but the 600,000gns Tattersalls December Foals graduate has to progress from his initial outing when sixth at Newbury last month.

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Knicks Go Crowned World's Best Racehorse

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter) was named the Longines World's Best Racehorse of 2021 during a virtual ceremony of the Longines World Racing Awards presented from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England on Tuesday. Also during the ceremony, the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe--won last year by Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger})--was announced as the Longines World's Best Horse Race of 2021, and Ryan Moore was celebrated as the Longines World's Best Jockey. The 6-year-old Knicks Go earned a rating of...

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Value Sires Part I: The Newcomers

Welcome to TDN Europe's annual Value Sires Series. Over the next few weeks we will analyse the continent's sires by sire crop and provide a general state of play in the stallion market and, most importantly, pull out some potential value that may be lurking beneath the surface. Of course, the concept of value is subjective and can depend upon a wide range of goals: whereas one breeder may be looking to produce an animal that they can race and pick up purses with for years to come, many more...

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Knicks Go Heads Latest Longines WBRR

On the heels of his front-running, 2 3/4-length defeat of Medina Spirit (Protonico) in the Nov. 6 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) has been assigned a rating of 128 and sits atop the latest edition of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR). With his victory in the $6-million centerpiece of Breeders' Cup weekend, the 5-year-old improved on his previous best ranking of 124. Knicks Go ranks one point higher than the trio of G1 Investec Derby/G1 King George & Queen...

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Palace Pier To Stand At Dalham Hall Stud

Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}--Beach Frolic {GB}, by Nayef), the top-rated miler of 2020 and winner of five Group 1 races for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, has been retired from racing and will stand at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud for 2022. His stud fee will be announced at a later date. Bred by Highclere Stud and the Duke of Roxburghe's Floors Farming, Palace Pier was bought as a yearling by his trainer John Gosden for 600,000gns and won both his starts in maiden and novice company at two....

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We Are The Champions

If confirmation was needed that Ascot's QIPCO British Champions Day is what it says it is, a glance at the most recently-published Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings reveals all. Of the 11 Europeans occupying the top 20 in the list, five are in action on Saturday with four of the remaining either injured or retired at this point. Heading the A-list quintet at present are the inseparable G1 QIPCO Champion S.-bound Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), with the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. favourite Palace...

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Omens Stronger Than Ever As Tattersalls October Approaches

Best horse in the world. Check. Top-rated miler. Check. The only two horses to win three Group 1 races in three different countries in 2021. Check. Highest-rated turf horse in America. Check. Most exciting juvenile in Europe. Check. When a sale can boast all of these as its graduates in a single season then it's not doing badly at all, but then the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale--and Book 1 in particular--has long been a world leader, both for its results and for its pull of potential buyers from across the...

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Mishriff Joins Adayar, St Mark's Basilica Atop World Rankings

With his six-length victory in last month's G1 Juddmonte International, Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) has joined St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Adayar (GB) (Frankel {GB}) atop the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings with a rating of 127. St Mark's Basilica won the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and G1 Prix du Jockey Club before besting Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and Mishriff in the G1 Eclipse S., while Adayar became the first horse to 20 years to sweep the G1 Derby and G1 King George VI and Queen...

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The Weekly Wrap: It's Good To Be Back

There are banners along the High Street of my home town of Newmarket saying 'Welcome back to racing'. Though we've been fortunate in England to have been able to allow crowds gradually to return to racecourses earlier than some other countries, it has only really been in the last few weeks that it has felt like the proper pre-pandemic experience. And where better to have the people back in force than at York, widely regarded by many to be the best racecourse in the country? Any amount of time spent...

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Champions Day Likely To Be Palace Pier's Swansong

Trainer John Gosden has said that Qipco British Champions Day, where Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) has entries in the G1 Champion S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., is likely to be the 4-year-old's swansong before he goes off to stud. Palace Pier, last year's champion 3-year-old off wins in the G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, is a perfect four-for-four in 2021. Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum's bay won the G2 bet365 Mile, G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Queen Anne S. before defending his...

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Pier Sets Sights On The Lockinge

There is still a sense of the unknown where 'TDN Rising Star' Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) is concerned, despite his already-impressive achievements, and Saturday's G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. at Newbury should provide more evidence as to the level of his ability. Staying on powerfully to win the G2 Sandown Mile by eight lengths on his seasonal return Apr. 23, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois hero has slower ground to contend with here but it should be...

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