George Boughey believes now is the perfect time for Bow Echo to take on his elders in the Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood as he feels his star colt has developed into man following his battling Royal Ascot success.
This year’s Betfred 2000 Guineas hero maintained his unbeaten record at the Royal meeting when confirming his superiority over Gstaad in the St James’s Palace Stakes to make it five wins from as many starts.
And now the talented son of Night Of Thunder will attempt to extend that winning sequence when locking horns with his fierce rival once again along with taking on the older brigade in the £1.5 million Group One contest on July 29th.
In order to step Bow Echo up for his next test, Classic-winning handler Boughey put his star colt through his paces in an early morning gallop on Newmarket’s July Course ahead of racing taking place at the track on Saturday.
Working alongside stablemate Amorim, Bow Echo swiftly moved past his exercise partner when asked for his effort by Billy Loughnane before quickening impressively clear late on and passing the post with several lengths in hand.
The trainer said: “He is in terrific shape. Huge thanks go to the July Course for letting us gallop here as in these dry times we can’t get on the grass in Newmarket where we want to, so he needed to come and do that, and he did exactly what we hoped. He is spot on.
“He knows the place very well, and he is a very well balanced horse. I’m not really sure his lead horse could quite go a good enough gallop for him, but he is a different calibre of horse to what we have got.
"Billy knows him very well and asked him the question he needed to be asked. He is a very fit animal that is taking his work very well.
“It is the first time we can take on the older horses and it looks like the perfect time to do it. He is thriving physically.
“Within a week of the race at Ascot he was absolutely mad fresh. He has got an extraordinary constitution. In the immediate aftermath I thought it had (an effect on him), but within a week or so he was back to where we wanted him.
“He had a real battle, but he has come out of it a man. I think sometimes those horses can go one way or another from it and he certainly looks like he has come out of it in good shape.”
While pleased with the work Bow Echo put in on latest visit to the July Course, Boughey insists that the exercise was not just about the physical benefits it brings.
He added: “Mentally he really switches on for it. If you came and saw him on a Monday morning you would see he is a very relaxed horse that doesn’t do a stroke. He actually needs to come here.
“We did it before the 2000 Guineas (gave him a racecourse gallop) and we did it before Ascot. We know the programme he can now train on into the race. He is an incredibly intelligent animal. Hopefully he comes out of it as well as we went in and that we now can just tick away until the race.”
Two-and-three-quarter lengths separated Bow Echo and Gstaad on the Rowley Mile, however the distance between the pair last time out was reduced to just a short-head.
However, Boughey believes that the slicker nature of the track at Goodwood will show Bow Echo in an even better light.
He said: “I walked the track with Billy at Ascot and we stood at the four furlong marker. It looked like a long way home if we were going to be in a race we ended up in. I think I possibly should have held my nerve a bit and asked him to ride him cold as we did in the 2000 Guineas. He has a wicked turn of foot, but we probably didn’t see that.
“We saw that at a funny stage of the race to go and take the running up on a very stiff mile, possibly too soon, but circumstances meant that had to happen. I think it should be a very different race as it is a slicker mile around Goodwood. I couldn’t be much happier.”
And assessing the opposition Boughey admits he has huge respect for one rival in particular, who will be a new challenge to Bow Echo.
He added: “They are a good bunch of older horses. Billy rode Opera Ballo at Ascot into a headwind, and I think that day trying to make all was a difficult ask. He was possibly the horse to take out of the Queen Anne to do what he did, slightly overarching on the front end on a straight track.
“I’ve always thought Opera Ballo would be better around a bend so he is a huge threat. There is also Gstaad in there as well. It is a very good race and deserves to be with the increased prize money.”
Following Bow Echo’s win at the Royal meeting it led to some starting to compare him to the mighty Frankel.
However, Boughey says that while he is keen to see Bow Echo uphold his unbeaten status, he is just privileged to be working alongside such a generational talent.
He added: “I feel hugely honoured to train a horse like him fundamentally. He has got a fantastic pedigree and he has shown us to be a brilliant racehorse as well. The unbeaten thing doesn’t really bother me. With a colt you are as good as your last win whereas with a filly you are as good as your best win.
“Of course we would like him to remain unbeaten as that is what we do to get up in the morning and train horses like this.
“I’m not afraid of anyone, and I’m not afraid of getting beat. It is a fantastic race with some of the best owner breeders and trainers in it so to be taking them on is a huge honour.”
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