UK star Bow Echo bows out

NEWMARKET, SUFFOLK – Trainer George Boughey has announced the shock retirement of his superstar colt Bow Echo due to injury.

Unbeaten in three 2YO starts last season, the Night Of Thunder colt confirmed himself the best of his generation over a mile with three wins at Group 1 level, in the 2000 Guineas (1,600m) at Newmarket and the St James’s Palace Stakes (1,600m) at Royal Ascot before making it six from six against his elders in an epic Sussex Stakes (1,600m) at Goodwood on July 29. Billy Loughnane rode him at all his six starts.

A planned first trip to France for the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois (1,600m) at Deauville on Aug 16 was just not meant to be.

“It’s with great disappointment that we have to announce that Bow Echo has had a setback and will be retired from racing,” said Newmarket-based Boughey on X.

“It has been the honour of a lifetime to train a horse like Bow Echo. He has given us some extraordinary days and taken everyone involved on a journey we will never forget.

“To retire unbeaten, having won the 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes says everything about what an exceptional racehorse he has been.

“Bow Echo’s remarkable story began with his owner-breeder, the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. It’s a great sadness that he was not here to see what a lifetime of breeding was able to produce. Bow Echo’s unbelievable constitution and extraordinary ability set him apart.

“We will all miss seeing him at home and on the racecourse but we are incredibly excited for his next chapter and in time, to see a new generation of his progeny on the racecourse.” RACING AND SPORTS