“It should put him spot on for the Lockinge" - Palace Pier makes perfect return

Trainer John Gosden described Palace Pier as being “at 80%” after watching Europe’s highest-rated three year old of 2020 get his season off to the best possible start to win the Group Two bet365 Mile.

Returned as the 4-11 favourite, the four year old Kingman colt took up the running just inside the final two furlongs and powered away to take the honours by eight lengths from David Simcock’s Bless Him.

A dual Group One winner last season at Royal Ascot and Deauville, the hugely talented John and Thady Gosden-trained performer now has Group One targets at Newbury and Royal Ascot on the horizon while a step up to 10 furlongs for the Coral-Eclipse back at Sandown Park has not been ruled out.

John Gosden said: “It was a good performance and I’m very clear he was at 80%, but luckily nobody put it up to him today. He enjoys this track - he won as a two year old here and Frankie (Dettori) was very happy with him.

“He was having a very good blow afterwards but this has saved me going up and down the all-weather gallops at home hundreds of times, so in terms of going to the Lockinge next this is the right place. He’s a lovely horse and hopefully we can go to the Lockinge and then Royal Ascot.

“It wasn’t his fault at Ascot (when third on Champions Day) - he pulled a shoe off going to the gate and it was waterlogged and very heavy ground so it wasn’t his running.

“The heavy ground at Deauville was slightly different – it was slightly mushy just-rained-on Deauville ground – but I think trying to run on that at Ascot without a shoe didn’t help him very much.

“We’ll take it as we go, but it was nice to come here and the race has worked out well for him. He’ll go further in time when we want to, but for the time being we’ll concentrate on this. He was a top miler last year and I’ll concentrate on those right now.

“The Eclipse is a possibility but it’s very close to Royal Ascot. It’s always tight for a horse if they’ve had a hard-ish race, but we’ll put him in and take a look.”

David Simcock, trainer of second placed Bless Him, said: “I’m very happy with him. We are picking up prize money with him and having fun. He finished behind Khuzaam (fourth today) last time but that was on the all-weather and this is totally different so it wasn’t hard to see the form being potentially turned around.

“I part-own him with Tony Perkins and we are in it to win prize money so we will be trying to pick up as much as we can.”

Trainer Andrew Balding said of Happy Power, the third horse home: “He couldn’t have matched the winner even without the penalty. He got quite tired and he needed the race.

“It’s tough for him as he is a seven furlong specialist and there is nothing really for him until after Ascot so he will probably stay at a mile. I think he probably will go for the Lockinge, then we can start looking at seven furlong races. He will improve again and he could get placed in that.”