No horse heading into this week’s five-day Royal Ascot festival has generated more buzz than George Boughey’s Bow Echo, who runs in Tuesday’s Group One St James’s Palace Stakes at 4.20pm.
The son of Night Of Thunder arrived at this season having already shown considerable promise as a two-year-old, winning all three of his starts during that campaign.
His juvenile season culminated in a fine performance in the Group Two Royal Lodge at Newmarket in September, announcing him as one of the most exciting young horses in training.
His late owner, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, expressed his desire he miss the Dewhurst Stakes the following month and instead focus on a three-year-old campaign.
That decision proved to be a remarkable piece of foresight, as a visibly strengthened Bow Echo returned this spring and blew his rivals away in the 2000 Guineas.
His performance, dispatching subsequent Irish 2000 Guineas winner Gstaad with ease, was heralded as the best in the season-opening Classic since Frankel.
With Boughey reporting that he’s tearing it up on the Newmarket gallops, it looks like it will take a sensational performance from one of his five rivals to beat him here.
Godolphin’s Talk Of New York also created a taking impression when returning to the mile with an explosive performance in the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown last month.
That form sits someway below what both Bow Echo and Gstaad have achieved, but Charlie Appleby’s runner shows scope for further progression on his third domestic start of the season.
Pairing Bow Echo and Talk Of New York in a World Pool Quinella, picking the first two finishers, could still offer genuine value given the market dynamics of the race.
Tuesday’s card finishes with the competitive Copper Horse Stakes at 6.10pm, where the progressive Valiancy heads the market as a very short-priced favourite for a race of this nature.
His price is not unfounded though, having won with plenty in hand on his reappearance at Hamilton last month under straightforward conditions.
However, Wathnan second string Sing Us A Song could offer more value, having looked a thorough stayer when finishing second over a mile-and-a-half at York last time out.
He stuck on well in the manner of a horse that would be suited to stepping up to this one-and-three-quarter-mile trip, and with James McDonald in the plate, he appeals strongly in the World Pool Win and Place markets.
David O’Meara’s Stressfree is another worth including in the Win and Place markets for the same race at Royal Ascot on Tuesday evening.
This six-year-old finished an excellent fourth behind Ethical Diamond on quick ground in last year’s Ebor and is a pound lower in the weights here.
He needs to improve on his two runs this season, but back up in trip on quick ground could see a return to his best form.
With Valiancy difficult to leave out entirely as a selection, combining him with Sing Us A Song and Stressfree in a World Pool Quinella provides an attractive each-way betting structure for the race.