Palace Pier puts the late Duke of Roxburghe's breeding back in the spotlight

Palace Pier provided a fitting tribute to the late Duke of Roxburghe, who died on Thursday aged 64, when the Kingman colt he bred in partnership with Highclere Stud registered an explosive three-and-three-quarter length debut success at Sandown on Friday.

The John Gosden-trained colt is the third generation of his family to be bred by the partnership, as they were also responsible for his unraced dam Beach Frolic and her dam Night Frolic, a winning daughter of Night Shift.

"We'd been great friends for 37 years," Highclere's John Warren said of the duke. "We've had tremendous fun along the way, helping him to fuel his passion of breeding racehorses. It was an obsession for him; he thought about it every day and worked at it every day and was fascinated by the detail.

"I'm saddened that he wasn't able to live a few days longer to see this horse run because, even when he was very ill, the one thing that was keeping him engaged was following his horses.

"It's a great tragedy that he's not able to enjoy it but it'll be a fitting tribute if Palace Pier turns out to be a good one."

The Duke of Roxburghe, co-breeder of Palace PierCredit: Laura Green

Highclere consigned Palace Pier at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year, with John Gosden signing the docket at 600,000gns to secure the youngster on behalf of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.

"It was very shocking to lose him considering we were so close," continued Warren. "We shared mares in partnership, he had four mares with us at Highclere and the dam of Palace Pier was one of those.

"Fingers crossed that Palace Pier goes on. I know Frankie [Dettori] doesn't get impressed every day of the week but his feedback was very positive. The horse was a magnificent yearling and made a very good price.

"It's a very good family; the dam is a half-sister to Bonfire and Joviality, who we bred in partnership with the duke. Hopefully the class of this family can keep coming through."

John Warren: 'It was very shocking to lose him'Credit: Laura Green

Night Frolic and Beach Frolic descend from Miss D'Ouilly, a Listed-winning daughter of Bikala who Warren bought from Jean-Luc Lagardere for 50,000gns at the 2000 Tattersalls December Sale.

Beach Frolic has produced two winners from three runners, as Palace Pier is closely related to the Invincible Spirit filly Tatweej, who broke her maiden for Shadwell and Owen Burrows at Nottingham in June.

Highclere is due to offer Palace Pier's half-brother by Camelot at Book 2 of the forthcoming October Yearling Sale.

Beach Frolic produced a colt by Highland Reel earlier this year.

Warren had long assisted the duke with his matings, a fact he reaffirmed at Book 1 in 2017 as the duke addressed the press shortly after the Dubawi colt out of his dual Classic winner Attraction, a daughter of Efisio, had sold to Shadwell for 1,350,000gns.

As the Floors Stud owner was regaling journalists with the story of Attraction and her family, Warren interjected and, much to the duke's amusement, said: "I hope you've told them you had to be bludgeoned into using Efisio!"

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'We've lost a great friend' - industry pays tribute to late Duke of Roxburghe