Bow Echo Takes Down Gstaad Again in Sussex Stakes

Everybody loves an unbeaten star but the welcome back to the winner's enclosure Goodwood served up for Bow Echo (IRE) after an absorbing Sussex Stakes (G1) July 29 highlighted better than any words the esteem with which the three-time group 1 winner and his connections are held. In overcoming a troubled passage for the second time in a row, Bow Echo became the first horse since Frankel (GB) to complete the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes (G1), St James's Palace Stakes (G1), and Sussex Stakes treble in the same season. But this was not a day for drawing comparisons, this was a day to celebrate a serious talent in his own right. It took a combination of the panache Bow Echo had shown in the Guineas and the tenacity he displayed at Royal Ascot to conquer the biggest Sussex Stakes field of the last 20 years. It was sheer guts that got him home in front on the second of those occasions, but there was a certain amount of majesty about the way he ran down old foe Gstaad (GB) from an unpromising position this time around. That stardust was not lost on his supporters, whether they had backed him or not, and the hearty roars that went up as he paraded in front of the stands after the race were matched when he returned to the No. 1 spot. "That was an explosive turn of foot," said winning trainer George Boughey. "I think it was a bit messier than what we thought it would be and huge credit to Billy Loughnane again. He was ice-cool. This is an extraordinary horse but he's got an extraordinary rider to go with him. It gives me huge satisfaction to see Billy producing the horse like he did, but fundamentally what a horse. "To have the constitution to deal with another rough race and to be able to relax through it and find the line as strong as he did... I'm lost for words a little bit." Loughnane was determined to follow Ryan Moore on Gstaad, but when he started to investigate a route home toward the inside of that rival, he soon discovered every lane occupied. That meant checking Bow Echo off the heels of his main market rival and, as his mount muscled his way to the outside, Loughnane had to watch Moore make his move for home. The response may not have been immediate, but once Bow Echo found daylight he started to purr. From that point, Loughnane was able to build the revs and, when he put his foot fully to the floor, his partner's turbo propelled them to the front in the nick of time. "He's so fast—he's just like a motorbike," Boughey said. "He's a horse who stays the mile well, but he's also got an exceptional turn of foot. Billy has had amazing belief in this horse for a long time and so have I." Undoubtedly Loughnane had to hold his nerve at a crucial stage, yet as he relived one of his greatest days on a racecourse, the 20-year-old said he was never unduly concerned. "I knew there was going to be pace on in the race and they ensured that it was a testing gallop," Loughnane said. "I found the tail of Ryan's horse after a couple of furlongs and I was happy in that, but then Christophe (Soumillon, aboard Puerto Rico) arrived on my outside and had me in a little bit of a pocket. That didn't make life easy for me and I had to wait a little bit before moving, but when we did he really let down well—he's a horse with a blistering turn of foot. "Me and George watched millions of these races back, and the closer almost always gets up in the Sussex. … From the furlong pole onwards, I always felt like I was going to run them down." And run them down he did, with Bow Echo taking his unbeaten record to six, and enhancing his already sizeable reputation in the process. Boughey picked out either the Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1) or the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1) next for Bow Echo. He also highlighted his desire to conquer America, as the Sussex was a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) Oct. 31 at Keeneland, something not even Frankel attempted. If he is still unbeaten after a trip to Keeneland, perhaps it will be appropriate to revisit the comparisons. Before then, Bow Echo and his connections deserve to be celebrated for their own achievements.