George Scott and George Boughey are well on their way to becoming two key figures in Newmarket, according to Matt Brocklebank.
As dusk began to close in around Keeneland Racecourse in Kentucky at the weekend, old housemates and close friends George Boughey and George Scott could be forgiven for raising a glass of something decent to a season of considerable success.
The 34-year-old Boughey, teetotal by all accounts, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint with Libertango after a dramatic eleventh-hour switch which saw close ally and Britain’s newly-crowned champion jockey Billy Loughnane keep the ride having feared all week he’d be unable to do the weight on the filly.
It was only the trainer’s second ever Breeders’ Cup runner and – with the pressure now off – the following day Boughey watched on as Survie finished a respectable fifth in the silks of Michael and Doreen Tabor in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
A head and one place back in sixth was Bay City Roller, the undoubted flag-bearer this term for Scott, four years Boughey’s senior and another man making all the right moves in a bid to ultimately become part of the establishment in Newmarket.
The famous yards of William Haggas, John & Thady Gosden and Charlie Appleby still stand above the rest in Flat racing’s traditional headquarters, but stocks can rise and fall remarkably quickly and - the Tabors aside - the relatively youthful Boughey and Scott have been attracting significant owners themselves for a while now.
Last summer Scott received the sort of boost which unquestionably “allowed my career to elevate” (his words) when confirmed as the principal trainer for Bahraini royals Shaikh Nasser bin Hamed Al and Shaikh Khalid after the brothers decided to merge forces under the Victorious Racing banner.
Not long after Caballo De Mar and Bay City Roller provided the trainer with a first taste of Group 1 success with wins in France and Germany respectively, while the latter gave Scott a domestic breakthrough at the top table in this year’s Coronation Cup at Epsom.
He described the moment as an “out-of-body experience” on ITV Racing at the time but there was no fluke about it despite conditions being favourable, and those hardy stable stars have continued to run with distinction throughout 2026.
However, for those of us who prefer to judge any trainer pound-for-pound where possible, the campaigning of Wimbledon Hawkeye should not be overlooked either. Granted, he was Group 1-placed at two when also winning the Royal Lodge, and he ran fifth in Ruling Court’s 2000 Guineas for good measure, but getting any horse from near-neighbour James Owen and apparently improving their output on the track has to go down as a feather in anyone’s cap.
Wimbledon Hawkeye has looked better than ever since moving half a mile down the Hamilton Road, with Group-race wins at Deauville and Longchamp sandwiching a nose defeat in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.
Scott started training over a decade ago when I was fortunate enough to meet him for the first time at the 2017 Breeders’ Cup alongside smart two-year-old James Garfield, but his subsequent rise can arguably be traced back to Ise Of Jura’s phenomenal run of form in Bahrain through the winter of 2023 into 2024.
And it is the Middle East where Scott’s attention is going to be focused in the short-term, having set up a 20-box base in Dubai where he will also be strongly represented by the likes of Wimbledon Hawkeye no doubt at the five-month Carnival leading up to World Cup Night in March.
Success in the Emirates will surely lead to further investment from his big-money backers and it’s not hard to envisage a really good 2026 leading into an exceptional 2027 for the media-savvy Scott.
Boughey is a little more guarded in regards to the press, by his own admission, but still impressively measured for someone his age, and the challenge for him after doubling his Group 1 tally this year thanks to Bow Echo’s brilliant treble is working out how to kick on without him.
If the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid late last year briefly put a seed of doubt in Boughey’s mind then he has dealt with it famously while overseeing the Classic campaign of the best colt he is ever likely to train. And although a handful of horses owned by the late Sheikh’s estate changed hands as part of the Godolphin consignment on the Tattersalls Autumn Catalogue last month, none of them were from the Boughey yard.
Another big potential hurdle – and one someone as self-aware as Boughey will have seen coming a mile off – is the question around how long he can hang onto Loughnane before he picks up a starring role with one of the sport's super-powers?
The aforementioned Appleby has long been an admirer and he and Loughnane already have a phenomenal 43% strike-rate (43-101) when combining in the UK, while a Royal Ascot win on King Of Cloughan in the Windsor Castle Stakes for Joseph O’Brien clearly left an impression as the Irishman turned to him again when the ride on Enceladus came up for grabs in the Betfred St Leger.
Who knows where Loughnane's immense talents could take him but he won't forget this year and he won't be in a rush to part with Boughey, who appears perfectly well equipped to deal with the inevitable challenges that come with rising through the training ranks.
Together with Scott, he is going a long way to proving that Newmarket’s future figureheads are already here for all to see.
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