Bow Echo got the better of Gstaad in a nailbiting finish to the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.<\/p>\n
Bow Echo<\/a> (5\/6 favourite) comfortably accounted for Gstaad in the 2000 Guineas to the delight of trainer George Boughey but the runner-up had since impressed in the Irish 2000 Guineas and they faced a different scenario to Newmarket in having to race round a bend.<\/p>\n There was some early scrimmaging as the jockeys looked to bag their preferred spot behind Puerto Rico and Power Blue – with Ryan Moore picking up a three day ban for careless riding<\/a> – who went head to head at the head of affairs but as they settled down, Talk Of New York got across to the rail to claim third, ahead of Bow Echo with Gstaad shuffled back to fifth.<\/p>\n Moore on Gstaad went for a brave run up the inside rounding the home turn and found space on the inside of the weakening Puerto Rico but wide on the track, Bow Echo and Billy Loughnane appeared to be travelling the better. <\/p>\n Talk Of New York was in between the pair but gradually wilted as the two big guns fought out the finish. Gstaad kept finding for Moore, eating into the deficit but as they passed the line there was a short-head between them.<\/p>\n Paddy Power left Bow Echo at 7\/4 for the Sussex Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.<\/p>\n The stewards held an enquiry to consider whether Christophe Soumillon rode Puerto Rico in a manner to benefit stablemate Gstaad and, in doing so, ’caused minimal interference to Power Blue’. <\/p>\n They decided to suspend Soumillon for 8 days ‘for riding his mount in such a way that intended to give an advantage to another horse from the same stable, in that he moved his mount away from the rail thereby ensuring a clear run for Gstaad on his inside’. <\/p>\n Loughnane said: \u201cThe first furlong was crucial, but we got squeezed out early. There was five of us in a line and I slightly lost my position from there on. Bow Echo then laid up and I was trying to manage him and get him back behind the Amo Racing horse. He came back in our lap so it meant I had come out and move a little bit sooner than ideal, but his guts got him through. <\/p>\n \u201cHe is very determined to win this horse. He has a fantastic turn of foot with a lot of ability. <\/p>\n \u201cYou have to adapt from there on [after the scrimmaging at the start]. It is just a case of getting him back relaxed and trying to get him breathing again and into his rhythm. Once he found that he was powerful. There was a little bit of pressure coming here today with him being a 2000 Guineas winner that was unbeaten, but thankfully he managed to get the job done. <\/p>\n \u201cHe travelled very powerfully and he has got a great turn of foot. Gstaad and Ryan probably had a more economical route than we had so we probably wasted a bit of ground, but he is a very talented horse and was tough towards the business end. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is pressure riding a horse like him, but it is a pressure that you want. I\u2019m very privileged to be in a position to partner him and I can\u2019t wait for the next couple of races to come up. It is special having the family here as I drew a blank at the meeting last year so to be able to get back in the winner\u2019s enclosure in a Group One at the biggest festival in one of the biggest races in the world is fantastic. <\/p>\n \u201cThere was a touch of an anxious moment as it was obviously very close, but he is a very talented horse that has guts and determination. It is a pinch yourself moment. I can\u2019t thank George and his connections enough. They have really put faith in me to partner a horse like him and I\u2019m very lucky.\u201d <\/p>\n Boughey added: \u201cHe\u2019s a very tough horse to do what he\u2019s done today especially as things didn\u2019t quite go according to plan. To show that fight late on is really what he\u2019s all about. He\u2019s a horse who has shown a turn of foot to get to the front and Billy probably had to move earlier that he wanted to.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s still raw, he\u2019s immature, His two-year-old career was only a short career at the back-end and he\u2019s really learning how to race now. I think we\u2019ll go to Goodwood, that\u2019s the plan. It will be a big test against the older horses for the first time but we\u2019re still learning about the horse.<\/p>\n \u201cBilly might ride with him a little more restraint that today and it\u2019s very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Rest of the reaction<\/p>\n Aidan O\u2019Brien said of the vanquished Gstaad<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m delighted. Ryan gave him a great ride, but it was a little bit rough early for him. He gets it very well. He is coming forward and I\u2019m looking forward to him. <\/p>\n \u201cWe knew that he was coming forward all the time. It was a little bit rough early, and Ryan was a bit further back than he wanted to be. As you saw going to the line he was closing and closing, but we are over the moon with him. <\/p>\n \u201cWe always thought he was a horse that would get further, and I would say we will if we ever need to step up, but he does get the mile well. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a tough race and they were all holding their position everywhere and a furlong down you never say he was going to run him that close, but every stride to the line he was closing and the line just came a bit quick. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was always a possibility that he could go over ten furlongs at the end of the season, but you wouldn\u2019t be afraid of going back with him over the mile again.\u201d <\/p>\n Charlie Appleby said of Talk Of New York<\/a>: \u201cThe betting has proven right as it was the favourite, second favourite and third favourite that finished in that order. What I take out of it is that we have a nice horse that will progress with his career. He still showed signs of inexperience there. He got a bit warm in the paddock, that didn\u2019t really concern me, as it is a warm enough day with a hood on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit rough for the first furlong or two and he just ran as though he got a bit frightened amongst it. He got a bit latched on and a bit keen there. Taking that experience with him now that will hopefully toughen him up, but we are not too far off them. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you watch the winner and the second they have had to come from behind us, and they have not had the runs they ideally wanted, but we were lit up a bit too much for the first furlong and it has probably just told in the last one hundred yards. <\/p>\n \u201cI think this horse will continue to progress.\u201d<\/p>\n Royal Ascot 2026Safer gambling<\/p>\n We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.<\/p>\n If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline \/ GamCare<\/a> on 0808 8020 133.<\/p>\n Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org<\/a> and gamblingtherapy.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bow Echo got the better of Gstaad in a nailbiting finish to the St James’s Palace Stakes at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-504743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}