Bow Echo holds off Gstaad in Royal Ascot thriller to remain unbeaten

Bow Echo, the 5-6 favourite, extended his unbeaten record to five races with a dramatic short-head victory over Gstaad in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday, giving trainer George Boughey and jockey Billy Loughnane their first Royal Ascot Group One win. The three-year-old colt, who had beaten Gstaad by nearly three lengths in the 2,000 Guineas last month, found the Ascot course a sterner test but showed grit to hold on in a photo finish. "It's fine margins in this game and luckily he was on the right side of it today," Boughey said.

The race was marred by early scrimmaging among the half-dozen runners, with Bow Echo being squeezed out at the start. Loughnane was forced to switch to the outside, while Ryan Moore on Gstaad enjoyed a ground-saving trip up the rail after Christophe Soumillon, riding Gstaad’s stable companion Puerto Rico, moved left at the top of the straight to give Moore a clear run. The manoeuvre did not impress the stewards: Moore received a three-day suspension for careless riding that caused interference to Bow Echo and another horse, and Soumillon was handed an eight-day ban for riding in a manner intended to give an advantage to a stablemate.

"The first furlong was crucial and I got squeezed out early," Loughnane said. "There were five of us in a line and I slightly lost my position and Bow Echo got lit up. ... His guts got him through. He's a very determined horse with a great turn of foot and fantastic ability." Boughey added that the colt would likely improve from the experience, saying, "That was the first time Bow Echo got into a proper battle."

The St James’s Palace Stakes was not the only dramatic finish on the opening day. In the King Charles III Stakes, 14-1 shot Mission Central swooped late on the stands-side rail to deny Rayevka by a head, with Australian favourite Overpass third. Aidan O'Brien, Mission Central's trainer, said the horse could target The Everest in Australia. Earlier, 50-1 outsider Ten Bob Tony surprised the field to win the Queen Anne Stakes, the meeting's opening race.

Bow Echo is now expected to head to Goodwood for the Group One Sussex Stakes in late July, where he is the early 7-4 favourite to extend his winning streak against older horses for the first time.