The ‘complete racehorse’ completed the perfect trilogy when Bow Echo captured a pulsating Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes under an ebullient Billy Loughnane.
Consecutive victories in the Betfred 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and yesterday’s Group 1 feature hadn’t been achieved since Frankel in 2011, while there have only been six horses to manage the feat since Brigadier Gerard in 1971.
Nobody said joining the pantheon of great milers was going to be easy and for the second race in succession George Boughey’s record-breaking star colt was required to win ugly to preserve his six-race unbeaten record.
Locked away in mid division as the front-runners cut out an unrelenting gallop, Bow Echo was forced to delay his challenge when Ryan Moore aboard Gstaad swept by at the two-furlong marker to keep the 10/11 favourite penned in a pocket.
When Loughnane finally extricated his mount, the combination were left with three lengths to find but the trademark change of gear, so evident at Newmarket and Royal Ascot, allowed the 19-year-old to gather in his old adversary late on and score by a cosy half-length margin.
A relieved Boughey said: ‘Bow Echo is an extraordinarily talented horse, a complete racehorse.
‘Complete racehorse’ Bow Echo completed the perfect trilogy as it won the Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes on Wednesday
‘We have known that for a long way. He has been in a couple of scraps recently and he’s shown fight today, he’s shown his turn of foot and it’s a career best.
‘A lot went wrong again but he was still able to win and win well.’
Referring to his colt emulating the achievements of Frankel, Boughey added: ‘It’s not lost on me that, it’s slightly dawned on me in the last few days that I’ll probably never be in this position again.
‘There is a lot of trainers that have trained better horses than me that will never be in this position and I can’t thank the Maktoum family enough for them supporting me.’
‘I think the plan is to go to France for the Prix Jacques le Marois or the Prix du Moulin, but we’d like the horse to end up at the Breeders’ Cup.’
Loughnane said: ‘Hopefully that can silence the doubters. What a superstar of a horse. I say it every time. I know how lucky I am to have a horse like this at this age, I just feel so privileged.
‘Bow Echo and I both had to grow up fast [at Ascot], and we really have. I knew I was going to have to play him late and from the furlong pole onwards I always felt I was going to run them down.’
The irresistible 20-year-old, chasing his first Champion Jockey’s title, completed a double when steering French Affair to a 14/1 victory in the six-furlong sprint for trainer Jenny Candlish
