Bow Echo starred at Goodwood

Watch And Learn: Graeme North timefigure analysis for Glorious Goodwood 2026

Horse Racing

Tue August 04, 2026 · 1h ago

Perhaps inevitably, the final ‘Glorious’ Goodwood Watch And Learn (in its current format) will be covering turned out to be a more enjoyable Festival than many of its immediate predecessors.

There were the usual unlucky losers, notably Colombier and We’re Goosers in two of the handicaps, while several others met all the trouble going, notably Dividend in one of the conditions events and Wise And Wonderful in one of the nurseries, but the top races played out fairly and produced some excellent performances on the clock, notably from Bow Echo in the Susses Stakes, Scandinavia in the Goodwood Cup and Diamond Necklace in the Nassau Stakes.

The meeting was another reminder too of how close Joseph O’Brien is now to the top of the training ranks. Not only was he the leading trainer in numbers of winners (five) at Goodwood having been second only to his father in that metric at Royal Ascot but he also sent out the most winners of any trainer in the 29 races run on the Flat at the concurrent Galway Festival in Ireland and his 12 wins across Royal Ascot, Goodwood and Galway were achieved with no less than 11 different horses. Karl Burke, Richard Hannon and William Haggas also had good meetings, but John & Thady Gosden, James Owen, Ed Walker and Ralph Beckett were among those to go away empty handed, with the last-named not even hitting the first three from his 15 runners.

The outstanding performance on the first day came from Scandinavia in the Goodwood Cup.

A 122 timefigure is the highest in the race this century and his winning time was second only to the one posted by Kyprios in recent years (2024, when the race distance after rail movements was three yards less than this year) and sixth fastest overall this century, though the exact distance for four of those is uncertain given rail movements weren’t made public then.

Since the race was promoted to Group 1 status in 2017, Scandinavia has become the third horse to win the race at least twice and after winning by eight and a half lengths with a form-based performance Timeform rated 128 he now bears comparison to the four-time winner Stradivarius who never scored by far (his biggest winning distance was a length and three quarters and he twice won by half a length or less) but still recorded a 126 performance in 2018.

How the race would have panned out had Trawlerman, who was just edged out in the Gold Cup by Scandinavia, not been hampered by the loose horse Amiloc over two furlongs out can’t be known for certain, but Scandinavia would almost certainly have come out on top again even if Trawlerman can still lay claim to the better timefigure of the two across their whole careers having posted a 123 in the 2025 Gold Cup.

Not much to say about the beaten horses but Lazy Griff, who had suggested he would have more to offer once finally getting into a strongly-run race over a staying trip, disappointed, albeit first-time cheekpieces and more probably fast ground are plausible excuses in a race his yard will have surely targeted a long time ago.

Neither of the two other Group races resulted in a good timefigure. Lake Forest’s Lennox Stakes win came in just 75, though he did well to get up at all having been poorly placed when the sprint began, while Dr Rascal showed no shortage of bravery squeezing through a tight gap over a furlong out in the Vintage Stakes but an 88 timefigure was the first of several underwhelming ones throughout the week in the juvenile races.

Bow so good for Boughey

There were three Group races too on Wednesday but as on the previous afternoon just one outstanding timefigure – the 125 returned by Bow Echo in the Sussex Stakes.

That’s the second highest figure in the race since 2000 following the 129 posted by Toronado in 2013 and 3lb faster than the next highest, 122, posed by Rip Van Winkle in 2015. The pacemaker Dorset took a while to get to the front but there were several others who were keen to help the pace along, notably last year’s winner Qirat and the keen-going Opera Ballo, but even then the race became messy in the straight with Bow Echo having to be angled out to get a clear run so hampering slightly both Ten Bob Tony, whose good run confirmed his Queen Anne win wasn’t a fluke, and Zavateri who produced a career-best effort on the back of a three and a half month break since the Greenham.

Once Bow Echo got rolling there was a slight inevitability it seemed to me about the result with a late swoop taking him past Gstaad who had to be content with the runner-up spot again in their third meeting this year. Bow Echo had recorded 126 on the clock when winning the 2000 Guineas but Gstaad’s 124 here was his best yet, eclipsing his 2000 Guineas effort by 4lb, while Opera Ballo recorded a career best 122 as well and among the first three deserves a marginal sectional upgrade of 1lb for being the horse closest to the pace to still be there at the finish.

The earlier Oak Tree Stakes went to Flora Of Bermuda on her first try at seven furlongs in 93 which was the same figure Pershaada ran to in the Molecomb, but a higher figure was recorded by Queen Mary flop Wild Blossom who got back to winning ways in the Alice Keppel and recorded the week’s second highest figure by a youngster, 99.

Billy Loughnane celebrates Sussex Stakes glory on Bow Echo

Diamond a different gear

Ballydoyle also ran a pacemaker in the Nassau Stakes on Thursday and it made for a fascinating contest which resulted in another race-leading timefigure this century, albeit shared with Deidre who won the race in 2019. Deidre ran the race (over two yards fewer) getting on for a second and a half faster, but timefigures are a consequence of not just absolute time but relative time after consideration has been made for all other races on the card and the circumstances under which they were achieved and the merit of those that achieved them.

Diamond Necklace’s nearest rival on form, Friendly Soul, the winner of the 2024 Prix de l’Opera, put the race to Diamond Necklace after taking over from the pacemaker but the dual French Classic winner was always travelling in a different gear and went by readily to score by almost three lengths, a far superior model to the horse of the same name Aidan O’Brien trained as a three-year-old back in 2007 who ended up with no rating and a Timeform squiggle.

Friendly Soul posted 116 in second and See The Fire (whose best timefigure is 117 recorded in 2025) 105 in third. It was a good day for fast timefigures with three other races on the card returning figures above 100.

The best of those came in the Gordon Stakes which went to Enceladus in 109, which is the joint sixth highest in the race this century, and 10lb higher than he recorded at Royal Ascot. That 109 is rather misleading, however, as to the merits of the winner as well as the runner-up Geryon, who was conceding 3lb, as in pulling over four lengths clear both emerged with a 10lb sectional upgrade (third-place Venetian Lace got 1lb) which suggests they are up to making their mark at an even higher level at around this trip or further.

Naana’s Shadow posted 104 in the five-furlong sprint handicap but the 101 recorded by Man’s Best Friend in the Richmond is rather low for a week-leading figure posted by a two-year-old.

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American on track for Nunthorpe

Three winning timefigures made it into three figures on Friday; the 114 recorded by American Affair in the King George Stakes, the 113 recorded by Shayem in the World Pool Thoroughbred Stakes and the 106 recorded by Archivist in the Golden Mile Heritage Handicap.

Four of the six leading timefigures this century in the King George were recorded by the outstanding sprinter Battaash and though it’s unlikely any horse will get near the high of 130 he recorded (or even his low of 120) in his wins here given the declining state of the top-end sprinters, take Battaash out of the equation and American Affair’s 114 just about makes the top 10 timefigures in the race since 2000.

That’s a career best by 8lb and he’ll head to the Nunthorpe, a race he had to miss in 2025 after picking up an injury, with claims as good as any. Shayem’s Thoroughbred Stakes was gained, somewhat controversially, at the expense of Talk Of New York who took a strong hold and ended up conceding the winner too much rope after looking uncomfortable on the track. All the same the winner upped his game, posting a 113, and looks on the up again now that a potential career at a mile and a quarter has been axed.

The Golden Mile is usually one of the most draw dependent races in the country, but Archivist managed to overcome a very wide and usually undesirable stall, though was helped to a large extent by avoiding the trouble that befell those on the inside, passing the post in 106. This effort suggests he’s worth his place in Group company, which he’s pretty much forced into now anyway having won this off a BHA mark of 105.

Saturday’s card was the most appealing with three of the seven races at a mile and three quarters or more, and two of those races, the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes and the Group 3 Glorious Stakes, were steadily run leading to figures of just 89 for Goodie Two Shoes (who had finished third in the race the year before) in the former and 81 for Enfjaar in the latter.

The 14-furlong handicap over the same trip as the Lillie Langtry produced the best figure of the day, 108, while two of the other handicaps also hit a minimum of 102, the respective winners of those races being Crest Of Fire and Evening Saigon (in the Stewards’ Cup), respectively.

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