Bow Echo Generates Buzz Ahead of St. James's Palace

Trainer George Boughey's star performer Bow Echo (IRE) will face six rivals on the opening day of Royal Ascot in the St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) scheduled for a 4:20 p.m. local post (11:20 a.m. ET). The impressive Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner will make his second start in group 1 company. With French Two Thousand Guineas winner Rayif (IRE) not declared, the colt's toughest competition appears to be the Aidan O'Brien-trained Gstaad (GB). Campaigned by executors of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, Bow Echo has been clear in all four of his races with a combined margin of victory of 9 1/4 lengths. In August, he won on debut at Newbury before securing his stakes debut in the Ascendant Stakes at Haydock Park. He then closed out his juvenile season with a victory in the Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) at Newmarket. In his fourth start at the mile distance (or the about a mile distance), Bow Echo secured the Two Thousand Guineas in his 3-year-old season debut at Newmarket. The St James's Palace will provide the next clue as to how good the son of Night of Thunder (IRE) may be. Racing Post writer Lewis Porteous compared Bow Echo to Frankel (GB) at this point in his career, writing: "Royal Ascot always starts with an almighty bang courtesy of the four group races which kick off the world's most prestigious flat festival, but thanks to an unbeaten Two Thousand Guineas winner bidding to emulate arguably the greatest flat horse of all time, Tuesday's opening salvo is more eagerly anticipated than ever. "It was 15 years ago that Frankel brought an unblemished record and an emphatic Two Thousand Guineas victory to the St James's Palace Stakes. As it turned out, the feature race on day one of the royal meeting was the closest he ever came to meeting defeat, but unbeaten Frankel remained and now comes Bow Echo's opportunity to try to follow an equine giant." Bow Echo will meet a familiar rival in Gstaad (GB), an impressive winner of the Coventry Stakes (G2) on this card last year who closed out his juvenile season with a victory over Stark Contrast in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Del Mar. On his seasonal return for Coolmore-affiliated owners Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michal Tabor in the Newmarket Classic, Gstaad finished a well-beaten second to Bow Echo but returned to winning ways when landing last month's Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) by three lengths for trainer Aidan O'Brien. O'Brien is also represented in Tuesday's mile test for 3-year-olds by Puerto Rico (IRE), who was fourth behind Rayif at Longchamp last time. Godolphin will send out Talk Of New York, who put in a career-best performance when winning the Heron Stakes at Sandown by 5 1/2 lengths last time out. St James's Palace Stakes runners and riders Bow Echo, Billy Loughnane Gstaad, tbc Lord Britain, Benoit de la Sayette Power Blue, David Egan Puerto Rico, tbc Talk Of New York, William Buick