Horse Racing
No added pressure for Boughey as Sussex clash looms for Echo
George Boughey is feeling no added pressure to keep superstar colt Bow Echo unbeaten this season as he prepares to put his record on the line again in a red-hot Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
The three-year-old son of Night Of Thunder looks set to face his stiffest test yet in the Group One spectacular on the Sussex Downs on July 29 against the best older horses and familiar faces from the Classic generation.
And while Boughey admitted his 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner makes things easy for him at home, he conceded he has a growing public fan club willing him to keep his flawless record intact.
“The whole story of an unbeaten horse always captures the public imagination and we are really looking forward to taking on the older horses for the first time at Goodwood. But I don’t think there is more pressure on me,” he said.
“As I’ve said a number of times he makes my job very easy. He is a very straightforward animal to train and he takes his work well. Consistency with anything in life makes people’s lives easier.
“He just eats, sleeps and trains and has hit every target so far. We have been very lucky that has been the case and hopefully it carries on that way.”
Boughey fired the starting gun on his Sussex Stakes bid with a first piece of serious work since he beat Gstaad for the second time this season by a short head in a rough but thrilling St James’s Palace.
It delivered a second Group One following his runaway Guineas success and a fifth win out of five following his unbeaten two-year-old campaign culminated with a win in the Royal Lodge at Newmarket.
After watching the colt go through his paces, Boughey reported it was “all systems go” for Glorious Goodwood.
“He is in great shape and we couldn’t be much happier with him. He is a very consistent horse whose work has always been very strong and that certainly hasn’t changed. It is all systems go and everyone is very happy with him.”
