A winning time of 1:37.85 was 1.87s faster than the TPD expected time for the race under those conditions and the first point to note is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed horses, who were over 4-lengths behind Bow Echo at the line, all ran final times below that expected time figure. The fastest horse in 5 of the 8 furlongs, Bow Echo settled towards the stands side of the group behind the pace under Billy Loughnane, who sat relatively motionless as his mount made smooth progress from the 3-furlong pole. With a top speed of 41.29 mph, he ranked 1st of the 7 runners, but he also hit the line strongly with the quickest run-out speed too (37.36 mph). At an average of 24.25 ft, his stride length ranked 2nd, but it was particularly noticeable that his average stride length reached it’s race peak in the penultimate furlong as he was easing his way clear under the gentlest of rides from Loughnane. He is clearly a talented horse and if we assume that there is further improvement to come,  then he is a horse to look forward to as we head into the autumn. This is a family that his owner/breeder knows well, having already enjoyed success with Royal Rhyme, Sharja Queen and Zabeel Queen from this line. As seems to be the modern way, a performance like this has instantly led to quotes of 16/1 for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May. That seems to be a slight overreaction at this stage and there are horses in that market who have certainly achieved more. However, what we can say is that Bow Echo produced a very promising set of data, needing very little encouragement from his jockey to do so and he was able to put 4-lengths between himself and the runner-up, who was a well backed 3rd on debut at Haydock in July. He ticked a lot of boxes on Friday afternoon; a good time, good late speed, good top speed and fast individual furlongs. We simply can’t knock him at this stage and it will be fascinating to see where he goes next.