Palace Pier will bid to cement his status as the leading older miler this season and will face 11 rivals in a top-class renewal of the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes (G1) at Newbury Racecourse May 15.
The son of Kingman was crowned the Cartier champion 3-year-old colt following a glittering campaign that saw him claim the St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) and the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois (G1) last year, and he made an impressive comeback when an eight-length winner of the Bet365 Sandown Mile Stakes (G2) at Sandown last month.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained 4-year-old will now make his return to the top level in the mile group 1 at the Berkshire track, having tasted his only career defeat in that company when third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) last October.
Lope Y Fernandez—third in last year's FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T) and victorious on his first start of the season at Leopardstown last month—spearheads the challenge for Aidan O'Brien and is the Ballydoyle trainer's sole representative, while Bet365 Earl Of Sefton Stakes (G3) winner My Oberon heads the remainder of the British challengers.
The progressive Top Rank, Jebel Hatta Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) winner Lord Glitters, and Betfair Dahlia Stakes (G2) heroine Lady Bowthorpe also feature among the final field of 12 for the Lockinge, which was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Logician, the 2019 William Hill St. Leger Stakes (G1) winner, is the star act on the undercard at Newbury and bids to get his career back on track in the Al Rayyan Stakes (G3).
The 5-year-old was only seen twice last season, winning a conditions stakes at Doncaster before he was a bitterly disappointing in the Betsafe Cumberland Lodge Stakes (G3) at York in October. He faces a tough task against Al Aasy, who was impressive in a course and distance group 3 in his latest start.
At Newmarket, Cazoo Derby (G1) dark horse John Leeper will aim to maintain his unbeaten record in the Fairway Stakes and heads a field of six for the listed contest.
Poetic Flare and Mother Earth Set for French Foray
Qipco Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Qipco One Thousand Guineas (G1) winners Poetic Flare and Mother Earth are on course to bid for a unique double in the French equivalents as they featured among the penultimate declarations stage for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (G1) and Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1) at Longchamp on Sunday.
The Jim Bolger-trained Poetic Flare, victorious by a short head at the Rowley Mile, heads a field of 12 for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains which also features the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (G1) hero St Mark's Basilica for Aidan O'Brien.
Mother Earth will be O'Brien's sole representative in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and is among 14 left in the mile Classic, as she bids to become the first horse to win both the English and French Guineas since Special Duty was awarded both races in the Stewards Room in 2010.
