Palace Pier

Group 3 winner A Bit Of Spirit will be trained toward the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on October 5, according to trainer Clive Cox. The son of Palace Pier, who carries the Paul and Clare Rooney colours, won the G3 Solario Stakes last month and was also under consideration for the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes closer to home on September 27. "We're over the moon with the success at Sandown and with that under his belt we're drawn towards the Lagardere," said Cox. "With the ability to perform on any...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner Quadrilateral (Frankel). 16.10 Newbury, £40,000, Nov, 2yo, 7fT Juddmonte homebred SLIGHT OF FOOT (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a Harry Charlton-trained half-brother to G1 Fillies' Mile heroine Quadrilateral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), faces nine in this first go. They include Jeff Smith's...

Wednesday, Salisbury, post time: 15:30, BRITISH STALLION STUDS EBF STONEHENGE STAKES-Listed, £40,000, 2yo, 8fT Field: A Bit Of Spirit (Ire) (Palace Pier {GB}), Morris Dancer (Ire) (Palace Pier {GB}), Mystic Moment (GB) (Time Test {GB}). TDN Verdict: Despite the fact that Eve Johnson Houghton seems to have the midas touch this year, the class deficit of her runner Mystic Moment means that this boils down to match between the Vintage runner-up Morris Dancer and the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes runner-up A Bit Of Spirit. The Gosdens' runner has the edge...

When it comes to the 2025 crop of first-season sires in Europe, there's one stallion who is now operating in truly rarefied air, fittingly so for a horse going by the name of Starman. With 16 individual winners on the board in Europe, the son of Dutch Art is currently six clear of Nando Parrado and eight clear of A'Ali, with Palace Pier, Space Blues and Supremacy then locked in a three-way tie for fourth with seven winners apiece. Lucky Vega has six, while Ubettabelieveit and Victor Ludorum each have...

Unbridled joy was present in bundles at Hamburg on Sunday as recent amateur-turned-apprentice Nina Baltromei urged Hochkoenig to victory on the line in the 156th Deutsches Derby, denying the Karl Burke-trained Convergent (Fascinating Rock) by the merest of margins. Hochkoenig is by the Lomitas stallion Polish Vulcano, who stands at the Darboven family's Gestuet Idee, which sponsors the Derby and is where the 17-year-old was bred. We'll be hearing from the stallion's breeder Albert Darboven in tomorrow's TDN, but for the breeders of Hochkoenig, racing photographers Marc and Gabi Ruehl,...

It's too soon, isn't it, to be thinking about this year's first-season sires? Well, not according to bookmaker Paddy Power, which has already released a market on this year's championship for Britain and Ireland, installing Starman (GB) as odds-on favourite to take the crown. There are a number of good reasons to imagine that this might be the case. For a start, the Group 1-winning sprinter stands at Tally-Ho Stud, which enjoys loyal support from many commercial breeders as well as backing their own stallions to the hilt. In recent...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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....