Europe
Bow Echo dubbed the complete racehorse
By Tom Frary, TDN Europe
In one of the best renewals of the G1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes to be staged on the glorious Sussex Downs at Goodwood, there was a familiar story as Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) swooped on Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) for another big victory. The 3-year-old colt is unbeaten in six starts.
“Hopefully that can silence the doubters, what a superstar,” Billy Loughnane said after forging a late half-length success on the 10-11 favourite. “I say it every time. I know how lucky I am to have a horse like this at this age, I'm so privileged. They made life difficult for him, but it was always the plan to follow Ryan and the pace played to his strengths. Once I got out, he proved how good he is.”
While the gap had closed between George Boughey's kingpin and his Ballydoyle nemesis from the 2,000 Guineas to the St James's Palace Stakes, things hadn't fallen right for either at Royal Ascot but satisfyingly this was an outcome that cannot be challenged. Ryan Moore had the perfect trip on Gstaad and had first run where it mattered, but Bow Echo has that extra kick at this trip and managed to overwhelm the second favourite on the run to the line.
With the pace solid, Godolphin's Opera Ballo (Ghaiyyath) and his Queen Anne conqueror Ten Bob Tony (Night Of Thunder) followed them home at margins of 1.75 lengths and a half-length to provide fitting context.
“He's learning, that sounds mad for an unbeaten horse but he's improving and I thought this was the race for him and that everything had been a lead-up to this,” Boughey said. “Obviously, he is an Ascot winner and a Guineas winner, but he really showed all of his attributes today. It's basically how we wanted it to go and it was a super effort. He had a battle at Ascot and came back a more mature horse and this will stand him in good stead again.”
“Obviously, he (Bow Echo) is an Ascot winner and a Guineas winner, but he really showed all of his attributes today. It's basically how we wanted it to go and it was a super effort.” - George Boughey
“I'm a racing fan and this gives me a huge amount of satisfaction. He looks the complete racehorse at the moment and all credit to the team, as I've got incredibly good people around me.
“Billy's a great rider and a huge support to me too–he ran me through the race yesterday morning, I started and he butted in! He is a real showboy, is he not? He loves it. I was pretty nervous today going into the paddock and he was just chilled out. He's got an amazing head on young shoulders.”
Bow Echo has met every test with remarkable alacrity, be it the challenge of dealing with the potent acceleration of Juddmonte's Publish at Haydock or the staying power of Gstaad at Ascot and here. There seems no flaw in the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's legacy horse, with all peers and the pick of the older milers now dealt with in similar manner.
Boughey stated after the Guineas that he wanted to make Bow Echo a champion at the trip and that now looks long odds-on with the treble of the Newmarket, Royal Ascot and Goodwood monuments completed. As a result, he has one over some notable Sussex winners in Giant's Causeway, Kingman and Notable Speech, who failed in one of the trio and joins Brigadier Gerard, Bolkonski, Rock Of Gibraltar, Henrythenavigator and Frankel in bringing up the holy trinity in recent times.
“He's an extraordinarily talented horse and we've known that for a long time,” the proud winning trainer said. “He has been in a couple of scraps recently and he had to really show his fight today and his turn of foot and it's arguably a career-best. A lot went wrong again, but he was still able to win and win well.
“It looked messy and there was obviously a lot of pace on, but our plan was to try and follow Gstaad where possible,” he added. “Ryan was under the pump from a long way out and he's a very strong stayer that horse, but Billy held his nerve. We learned a lot at Ascot, as the Guineas was straightforward and every piece of work he does, he thrives for it and comes out a bit fresher and he was a heavier horse today.
“I owe a huge amount to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and to Liam O'Rourke, who has also been there helping me through it. Fundamentally, I am a racing fan, I love training horses and I love racing horses, wherever it is in the world but to be able to show the public the horse we have has given me a huge amount of satisfaction. He is a star, has an amazing mind and he looks the complete racehorse at the moment.
“The plan was always to go to France for either the Marois or the Moulin, but we would like the horse to end up at the Breeders' Cup at the end of the year. I think a mile round a bend there with a strong pace will suit him very well.”
“The plan was always to go to France for either the Marois or the Moulin, but we would like the horse to end up at the Breeders' Cup at the end of the year.” - George Boughey
Pedigree: Bow Echo is the second foal and first runner out of the smart sprint handicapper Aristocratic Lady (Invincible Spirit), who sadly died last year with her 2-year-old colt Francis Key (Starspangledbanner) her final offering. Her dam is the Sandringham Handicap runner-up Dubai Queen (Kingmambo), a half-sister to Night Of Thunder's heavyweight sire Dubawi. Dubai Queen's three stakes performers were the Brigadier Gerard Stakes winner and Champion Stakes and Prix Ganay-placed Royal Rhyme (Lope De Vega), Frankel's Height of Fashion Stakes winner Victoria Harbour and the May Hill runner-up Zabeel Queen.
Other than producing Darley's preeminent sire, the Oaks d'Italia-winning third dam Zomaradah (Deploy) was also responsible for the Lancashire Oaks winner Emirates Queen (Street's Cry) whose son Royal Champion (Shamardal) captured the Neom Turf Cup. Another of her daughters Suba (Seeking The Gold) is the second dam of the 1,000 Guineas runner-up Cloak Of Spirits by Aristocratic Lady's sire Invincible Spirit.
Bow Echo is inbred 3mx3f to Zomaradah.
Zomaradah is a granddaughter of High Tern (High Line), a half-sister to the Premio Roma heroine and high-class broodmare High Hawk (Shirley Heights) who produced her late owner-breeder's Derby hero High-Rise (High Estate).
Group 1 target for exciting juvenile Pershaada
By Sean Cronin, TDN Europe
Middleham Park Racing's 2-year-old filly Pershaada (Persian Force) backed up a promising fourth in last month's G2 Queen Mary Stakes and became the first black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Mehmas) with an impressive victory in Wednesday's G3 Veuve Clicquot Molecomb Stakes, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier, at Goodwood.
“I thought Pershaada would run very well today, she has been working very nicely and has actually won really well,” said trainer Richard Hannon.
“We trained the stallion Persian Force, so it is good for him. She is an extremely fast filly and there is a good chance we might have a look at the (G1) Nunthorpe Stakes at York. She looks quick enough for that. She seems to win with a lot of authority, especially today, and that screams to me that, with the weight allowance from the older horses in a sprint, she would have a great chance.”
“She (Pershaada) is an extremely fast filly and there is a good chance we might have a look at the (G1) Nunthorpe Stakes at York. She looks quick enough for that. She seems to win with a lot of authority.” - Richard Hannon
The 11-4 favourite, who shed her maiden tag over this five-furlong course and distance in May, tanked along behind the leaders in a midfield seventh through the early fractions.
Surging forward once leaving the quarter-mile marker in the rear-view mirror, she delivered a telling burst to seize control with 150 yards remaining and drew off late under mild urging to comfortably account for Adonius (Soldier's Call) by two lengths. The runner-up just held the late charge of 66-1 outsider Hell Of A Spin (Naval Crown) by a neck.
Pedigree: Pershaada is the third foal and scorer produced by Listed Bosra Sham Fillies' Stakes victrix Mild Illusion (Requinto), herself the leading performer out of an unraced half-sister to Listed King Charles II Stakes third Courageous (Refuse To Bend).
Mild Illusion is also kin to the dam of Listed Prix Vulcain victor Viking Invasion (Mehmas) and Listed Derby de l'Ouest third Vatican Hill (Canford Cliffs). The winner hails from the family of G1 Irish St Leger and G1 Grosser Preis von Baden hero M-Lolshan (Levmoss).
