David Ord on on Bow Echo's thrilling Sussex Stakes victory

Bow Echo wins the Sussex Stakes: David Ord report on dramatic Group One success

Horse Racing

Wed July 29, 2026 · 5h ago

Our man at the track with his take on Bow Echo's dramatic Qatar Sussex Stakes victory.

It’s Bow Echo 3-0 Gstaad and the crowd at a sun-soaked Goodwood are ready to party.

Some racegoers dash through underneath the stands to welcome him and Billy Loughnane back to the winners’ enclosure. But more stay out front to show their appreciation as he parades under a delighted winning jockey.

Make no mistake, both are Box Office.

The Qatar Sussex Stakes promised to set up in a way that would give trainer George Boughey a few grey hairs as he watched the action unfold on the big screen. They want to play the favourite late. Ballydoyle have two potential pacemakers, Opera Ballo is going forward for Godolphin. Loughnane needs eyes everywhere.

He settles towards the rear, just behind Gstaad, alongside Puerto Rico. Brave. And now he needs to be both lucky and brilliant.

Because by the time the rider in the yellow and black silks of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has found racing room, Gstaad has quickened. First run to the challenger and a two length lead a furlong-and-a-half out on a speed favouring track is going to take some pegging back.

For the next 10 or 12 strides the inroads are small, Loughnane is driving his partner forward with the whip in the right hand. It’s the moment, inside the distance, that he switches to his left that the momentum changes. Bow Echo now finds the rhythm, the drive, his rider has been searching for. He has the class and courage too, going past to retain his unbeaten record.

The jockey points directly down the ITV camera as he celebrates seconds after passing the post. The message couldn’t be any clearer.

Billy Loughnane (left) pictured with George Boughey and the Sussex Stakes trophy

Having been far too good on Betfred 2000 Guineas Day, he had to win ugly in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. This time it was thrilling and daring. It always somehow is at Goodwood.

The placed horses are unsaddled and connections being interviewed by the time Bow Echo makes his way through the throng to the winners’ enclosure. The applause starts long before he makes it.

Loughnane signals down to his partner, leaps from him and hugs trainer George Boughey so tightly you worry about both in this intense heat. Next to the Weighing Room the likes of Sean Levey and Silvestre De Sousa stand on benches to get a good of view of what’s unfolding. They’ve both seen plenty during their careers, but this was a race that got every heart ticking that little faster.

It includes those in the thick of the battle. Kieran Shoemark rode Ten Bob Tony to finish fourth and shortly after the three-furlong marker saw what he thought were distress signals from the nearby Loughane.

“I just thought he looked beaten. I was almost going to shout to Billy and ask him for a gap but once Bow Echo had taken it, he just took off. I was very impressed by that acceleration. I’ve ridden against Bow Echo before, but I’ve been in front of him and he’s run by me," he said.

“To follow him down the hill like that and for him to go again like he did… it was something.”

So what did feel like to be aboard the winner?

“Me and Bow Echo both had to grow up fast at Royal Ascot and we really have,” a smiling Loughnane says. “We watched millions of these races back and always felt the closer got up. We knew there’d be plenty of pace and once I found Ryan’s tail (on Gstaad) I was happy.

“Then Christophe appeared on my outside, so I knew I had a bit of a challenge to get him out but once he was, he really motored home. I knew I had to play him late, that was my plan. I wasn’t worried when I did get out. I still had a furlong-and-a-half from there to the line and from the furlong pole I always felt I was going to run him down.”

What sort of viewing did it all make for a still somehow composed Boughey?

“He certainly found himself in a pocket or two, he had to be really tough today and the one thing Billy said was he’s learned so much from Ascot. When Christophe was on his outside, possibly at Ascot, he’d have lit up a little bit, but he’s learning," he said.

“He’s improving. He’s learning to get in a scrap and that turn of foot, that speed that he showed today... I thought this was the race for him, everything else was a lead up for this and he really showed all of his attributes today."

Bow Echo flashes home late to land the Sussex Stakes

Bow Echo is a public horse. The reception here underlined the very fact. Boughey is comfortable with it - no, in his own, quiet, unassuming way, relishing it.

“Fundamentally I’m a racing fan. I love training horses, I love wherever it is in the world, racing horses, but to show the public the horse we have recently has given he a huge amount of satisfaction. He has an amazing mind. He looks the complete racehorse.

“I’ve also got the right man riding him haven’t I! He’s a real show-boy and he loves it and is an outstanding rider.”

The trainer’s not bad either. The thing with the very good horses is they find a way to win, to somehow pull it out of the fire on the days when the cards don’t fall their way – or others fleetingly seem to hold a stronger hand.

For all bar the final 80 yards of the Qatar Sussex Stakes we weren’t quite sure whether Bow Echo was going to get there.

But he did and Goodwood exploded.