#2021PRIXJACQUESLEMAROIS #HORSERACINGFRANCE #PALACEPIERHORSE
~Palace Pier holds off Poetic Flare in pulsating Prix Jacques le Marois~
Frankie Dettori and Palace Pier just held on to win a pulsating battle with Poetic Flare and land the Group One Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville for the second year running on Sunday.
The Italian jockey brought his mount, the 5-6 favourite, from the back and wide for a late challenge with half a furlong to go. He got the better of the long-time leader, Order Of Australia, but had to hold off a strong challenge from the runner-up.
The odds-on winner remains unbeaten this season following victories at Sandown, Newbury and Royal Ascot after holding on by a neck with a length and a half back to Order Of Australia.
The horse’s victories in the Lockinge Stakes and Queen Anne kept the winner on top of the European miling division this campaign but this was the acid test against arguably the best three-year-old at eight furlongs and Palace Pier came through it even though he had a recent setback and was reportedly only “80% ready”.
A rematch between the first two could be on the cards in the QEII Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day in October but John Gosden, Palace Pier’s joint-trainer, suggested afterwards that he will have a long look at the Champion Stakes over 10 furlongs on the same card.
Gosden said: “I thought it was a very clean race. They went a pretty sensible pace, with Order Of Australia controlling it and he’s finished third, so it was not a race to be sitting out the back. We were second-last and they quickened and quickened. To that extent it was a bit of a test of speed.
“He’s done it well. I’ve made no secret of the fact he was ill with a blood disorder and missed the Sussex [Stakes at Glorious Goodwood]. I’ve come here on the absolute minimum of work – he’s probably come here at 80%. As Frankie said, his class got him through but he’s having a pretty strong blow. I was 10 days short for this race but they weren’t going to move the Jacques le Marois!”
Paddy Power cut Palace Pier to 7-4 from 2-1 for Ascot’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, a race in which he finished third last year. Gosden confirmed his charge will head straight for Champions Day in October but raised the Champion Stakes as a potential alternative to the QEII.
He added: “He’s a gorgeous horse and a lovely horse to be around. He’s got this amazing cruising speed and acceleration [but] I wouldn’t be frightened of stepping him up to a mile and a quarter.
“I think we’ll wait for Champions Day. When you run a horse like this, don’t come back too quick, so we’ll wait for Champions Day and possibly run over a mile or even a mile and a quarter.”
When asked if Palace Pier could run in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November, Gosden said: “That’s a long way off. Del Mar is a track I’m very fond of. I’ve had a lot of success there and a lot of good friends there, but that’s a long way down the road at the moment.”
Dettori said: “I love the horse – he’s the best miler I’ve rode. He’s beautiful and he’s got everything – pace, a turn of foot and goes on any ground. We were rushing to get him here today. He’s missed a bunch of work and we got him here on 80%. He’s just so good and got away with it.”
