- 2000 Guineas winner Bow Echo on target for Royal Ascot
- Trainer George Boughey ” says he’s “right where we want him”
- Bow Echo set for rematch with recent Irish 2000 Guineas winner Gstaad
George Boughey says 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo is exactly where he wants him ahead of Royal Ascot, with the unbeaten colt building toward a potential St James’s Palace Stakes clash with Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Gstaad and French Guineas winner Rayif.
Bow Echo steps up Royal Ascot work as St James’s Palace rematch with Gstaad draws closer
Bow Echo has begun to lift the intensity of his Royal Ascot preparation, with George Boughey reporting that the unbeaten 2,000 Guineas winner is training well ahead of the St James’s Palace Stakes on Tuesday, 16 June.
Racing TV reported on Wednesday, 27 May that Bow Echo started back galloping early last week and has been trained in the morning heat as Boughey builds him toward the Ascot opening-day Group 1.
George Boughey pictured after winning the 2000 Guineas with Bow Echo
Boughey said the colt is “doing everything the right way” and is “right where we want him” as the next phase of work approaches. He told the Racing Post.
That update matters because Bow Echo already sits at the centre of one of Royal Ascot’s most appealing early narratives.
His Newmarket victory on Saturday, 2 May (watch below) established him as the leading British colt over a mile.
However, the shape of the division changed again when Gstaad (2nd at Newmarket) won the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday, 23 May.
The Racing Post’s Curragh report showed Gstaad winning his domestic Classic by three lengths (watch below) after having chased Bow Echo home at Newmarket.
But the result did not weaken Bow Echo’s standing with the layers.
If anything, it sharpened the likely rematch by giving the St James’s Palace Stakes a cleaner three-way shape, with French Guineas winner Rayif also mentioned by Racing TV as part of the possible line-up.
A proper Royal Ascot division test is taking shape
The clash of the English, Irish and French Guineas winners see the bookmakers price-up the trio with Bow Echo leading the way.
Bow Echo is the clear 10/11 favourite to add the St James’s Palace Stakes to his CV.
With Gstaad next best at 5/2 and the French raider Rayif 9/1.
