Find out what John Gosden has to say about Lockinge Stakes favourite Palace Pier

3.35 Newbury
Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes (Group 1) | 1m | 4yo+ | ITV/RTV

Few horses are poised to dominate their division this season like Palace Pier. The Classic generation will no doubt do their best later in the year, but among the older horses he is the undoubted king of the milers.

Progressing from a Newcastle handicap to a Group 1 double in the St James's Palace and Prix Jacques le Marois, Palace Pier finished the season the champion three-year-old colt and the son of Kingman is back in the highest grade after making an eyecatching reappearance in Group 2 company at Sandown last month.

Saturday's test, one of the mile races in this year's Qipco British Champions Series, is mighty important; as Willie Mullins says about nailing an early winner at Cheltenham, getting one on the board early on eases the pressure and victory today will fully justify the decision to keep the four-year-old in training.

To that end joint-trainer John Gosden has left no stone unturned. "It looks a very good edition of the race with solid opposition so it will be a proper test," he said.

"We had considered coming straight here but he was so well that we gave him a run at Sandown as a prep. We just hope the ground doesn't get too soft as he pulled a shoe off in deep ground at Ascot last year."

Banks has class act in Lady Bowthorpe

Music agent Emma Banks knows talent when she sees it and she is relishing the prospect of rubbing shoulders with some of Flat racing's A-listers with Lady Bowthorpe.

Progressive last season, the William Jarvis-trained five-year-old took her form to the next level with a smooth win in Newmarket's Dahlia Stakes this month to earn a crack at Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Palace Pier and Lope Y Fernandez, who represents the all-conquering Aidan O'Brien-Coolmore axis.

Lady Bowthorpe: posted a smooth win in the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket last time outCredit: Edward Whitaker

Banks has yet to reach their level in the sport, but she has topped the charts in her day job, looking after Katy Perry, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Florence + The Machine, Green Day and Lorde among others, and she said: "There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than Newbury on Saturday.

"I'm excited and feeling incredibly sick – the racing diet is an amazing one! This is a massive race and while we may not look like we can win it, we'll give it a shot."

Jarvis stops short of describing Lady Bowthorpe as a diva, but says she takes some managing, which is not lost on Banks.

She added: "If you're hugely talented, you're often not the easiest person to deal with – equine or human – and my best horses have probably been the ones who needed a bit of psychology attached to them, and that's possibly true with some of my clients as well.

"There are some similarities as what I do for a job is plot and plan music artists' careers and what William does, and I butt in occasionally, is plot and plan a horse's career."

The coronavirus pandemic and shutdown of live events might mean Banks has had more time to interfere with running plans, but she added: "It's been busy behind the scenes as while we haven't had any shows we've been rebooking them and looking into what will hopefully start in the next few months so I haven't just been looking at the form book. I've been racing a few times and it's still great.

"I love the horses and that's where it starts. When William goes back for a cup of tea I'll be in the yard with another three packets of Polos!"

What they say

Simon and Ed Crisford, joint-trainers of Century Dream
He likes the course, distance and ground, which is a good starting point so now he has to put his best foot forward to be competitive. It's a proper test, it looks a strong renewal.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Lope Y Fernandez
We were delighted with him last year. We weren't sure if he was a sprinter or a miler, we know he has plenty of speed and we messed around with him a fair bit. He took it well but it was far from ideal. We came to the conclusion he's a miler and were delighted with his run at Leopardstown.

Roger Varian, trainer of Lord Campari
Ideally we'd have had a run before the but we couldn't quite fit one in. We think a lot of him, he's got a bundle of talent, and although he lacks a little experience he's a big horse and this should be his year as he's properly filled into himself. He's capable of running a very good race but we're aware it's a big ask straight into the Lockinge, he's got to find a new level of form but the talent is there.

William Haggas, trainer of My Oberon
It's a deep race this year and the ground may be a bit soft for him but we can't do anything about that. He won nicely at Newmarket and deserves to have a crack at a big one.

John Quinn, trainer of Safe Voyage
It's a very good race but we're pleased with his work and I think he'll run well. The Breeders' Cup didn't work for us at all but take that out and his form is very good.

James Tate, trainer of Top Rank
He's in great form and this has been the plan since shortly after Doncaster. I'm looking forward to the flat track, rain-softened ground and the straight mile. Palace Pier is tough opposition but they say never be afraid of one and it seems everyone else has thought the same thing. We think he's better this year than last so we're looking forward to seeing how good he is.

Read more of Saturday's previews:

'Palace Pier had not even run when the race was last staged in 2019'

Last call for John Leeper and Wordsworth to book their tickets to Epsom

Why we could witness the greatest Lockinge winner since the mighty Frankel

1.50 Newbury: 'We wanted Ryan' - why Karl Burke favoured Newbury over Newmarket for Spycatcher

2.05 Newmarket: Is the hype about John Leeper justified? Tom Collins on a tricky Fairway Stakes

2.25 Newbury: St Leger hero Logician on the comeback trail but Al Aasy poses a stern test

2.40 Newmarket: 'The bookmakers have it right' - exciting Bellosa tests Royal Ascot claims

3.00 Newbury: Another Al Kazeem or Defoe? Graeme Rodway on the London Gold Cup contenders

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