Sensational Gr1 St James's Palace Finish

A nerve-stretching finish to the St James’s Palace Stakes still ended with the result most expected, though very little about Bow Echo’s passage around Ascot was straightforward as he clung to his unbeaten record by a short-head, reports racingpost.com. The George Boughey-trained 2000 Guineas winner arrived at Royal Ascot carrying the growing weight of comparison with Frankel, and if the margin was far tighter than at Newmarket, the echo of history was impossible to miss, with Frankel himself having been made to work desperately hard to beat Zoffany in the same race 15 years earlier. Bow Echo had beaten Gstaad by 2.75l in the Guineas, but this time the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt came at him all the way to the line under Ryan Moore, forcing a photo that left Billy Loughnane visibly drained before the verdict confirmed he had just held on. The race began badly for the 20YO jockey, who said the first furlong proved crucial after he was squeezed early, lost his position and found himself trying to settle a horse who had become lit up in behind. Loughnane then had another problem when Power Blue came back into his lap, forcing him to angle out and commit earlier than he wanted. From there, Bow Echo had to rely on raw class and willpower, with his rider saying “his guts got him through” and praising his determination, turn of foot and ability. Ascot’s round course offers little forgiveness even to the best, and Loughnane was left covering ground into the straight while Moore saved more of it inside on Gstaad, slipping up the inner of stablemate Puerto Rico. Bow Echo initially appeared to be travelling the stronger, and when asked to quicken inside the final 400m he shot to the front, but the advantage was never comfortable. Gstaad kept closing, and Loughnane’s repeated glances to his right told the story of a rider who knew the danger was coming fast. He admitted afterwards that he had wasted ground and gone sooner than ideal, but said Bow Echo had rescued him from trouble and was toughest when it mattered. The pressure of riding such a horse was real, he said, but it was the sort of pressure any jockey would want, and he felt privileged to partner him. For Boughey, the imperfect nature of the win may ultimately prove valuable, because Bow Echo had to cope with adversity, traffic, a wide route and a rival who refused to go away. The next target is expected to be Goodwood on July 29, where he will try to follow Frankel again by winning the Sussex Stakes, and connections can take comfort from the fact that his Royal Ascot success was not built on an easy lead or a smooth run, but on the harder qualities that separate a high-class colt from a merely talented one.