Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes |
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| Group 1, Newbury 15:35 £350,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 15th May 2021 | |
1 Palace Pier 1/2F
2 Lady Bowthorpe 22/1
3 Top Rank 11/1
11 ran NR: Bless Him Distances: 1½l, 5½l, 4¾l
Time: 1m 40.96s (slow by 4.36s)
The best miler in the business!
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 15, 2021
Palace Pier is a fine winner of the Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes 👏 @NewburyRacing @FrankieDettori pic.twitter.com/3LEnog94pu
One of last year’s pre-eminent milers, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Palace Pier returned to action in style last month at Sandown, tuning up perfectly for his latest Group One assignment.
Settled towards the rear of the pack as Lord Campari took them along, jockey Frankie Dettori was assessing dangers approaching two furlongs out – and, satisfied the time was right, he let the 1-2 favourite go about his business.
The response was electric – but runner-up Lady Bowthorpe ran the race of her life to make sure it was not just a procession.
In the end a comfortable length and a half was the winning margin, with Top Rank also emerging with plenty of credit in third, another five and a half lengths back.
“There was no flying dismount, because I did one at Chester on the same type of surface and fell over!” said Dettori.
That was his only problem, however, and if it comes after the race there is certainly no room for complaining.
“I found a nice rhythm after the start, and he usually hits a flat spot between the three and the two, so I went to lay up – but he just went ‘whoosh’ and took off,” added Dettori.
“I hit the front over two out, so he was a long time in front. He won like a really good horse.”
Gosden senior seems keen on a step up to a mile and a quarter later in the season, with the Juddmonte International at York in the frame – but his jockey comes from a school of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’.
“I don’t think we need to step up in trip at the moment – he likes a straight mile, and his next target could be the Queen Anne,” added Dettori.
Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes
(British Champions Series) (Group 1)
£350,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m, Class 1
11 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Soft in places
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (8) Palace Pier 4 9-0 John & Thady Gosden Frankie Dettori 1/2F
2 (3) 1½ Lady Bowthorpe 5 8-11 William Jarvis Oisin Murphy 22/1
3 (5) 5½ Top Rank 5 9-0 James Tate P J McDonald 11/1
4 (10) 4¾ Lord Glitters 8 9-0 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 33/1
5 (1) ¾ Happy Power 5 9-0 Andrew Balding Silvestre De Sousa 66/1
6 (4) ¾ Lord Campari 4 9-0 Roger Varian Andrea Atzeni 50/1
7 (2) ¾ My Oberon 4 9-0 William Haggas Tom Marquand 14/1
8 (11) 4¾ Lope Y Fernandez 4 9-0 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 11/2
9 (9) 1¼ Century Dream 7 9-0 Simon & Ed Crisford James Doyle 18/1
10 (12) 11 Pogo 5 9-0 Charles Hills Kieran Shoemark 66/1
11 (6) 4¾ Safe Voyage 8 9-0 John Quinn Jason Hart 25/1
NR 1 (7) Bless Him 7 9-0 David Simcock NON RUNNER
