G1 Betfred 2000 Guineas

Bow Echo has been given a rating of 131 for his brilliant performance in the G1 Betfred 2000 Guineas by Timeform. The son of Night Of Thunder won by 2 3/4 lengths over Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) (123). Only five horses have earned a higher rating in winning the 2000 Guineas since 1970. Ranked by rating, they are Brigadier Gerard 141 (1971), El Gran Senor 136 (1984), Nijinsky II 135 (1970), Frankel 135 (2011) and Dancing Brave 134 (1986). Bow Echo is not entered in the G1 Betfred Derby for George Boughey,...

Those who say Flat racing lacks atmosphere need to wake up and get to Newmarket. No winner at the Cheltenham Festival has been cheered in to the enclosure more vociferously by a sell-out crowd than the 2,000 Guineas hero Bow Echo and his fellow young bucks George Boughey and Billy Loughnane.  At the age of 20, Loughnane is perhaps not quite still Billy the Kid but he is now Billy the Classic winner. Boughey beat him to it, four years ago, and a similarly rousing reception was given to his...

A wide-open G1 Betfred 2,000 Guineas on paper turned into a two-horse race approaching the final furlong and then a singular domination from Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) as George Boughey's TDN Rising Star dismissed his only threat Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) with a mighty display on Newmarket's Rowley Mile. Delivering poignancy as well as class carrying the colours of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, the 9-2 shot brushed aside the 3-1 joint-favourite Gstaad heading to the closing stages and powered to an emphatic 2 3/4-length victory in a fast 1:35.59. There...

Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) will face 14 rivals as he carries the silks of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid in Saturday's G1 Betfred 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Unbeaten at two, the George Boughey-trained G2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner is the current favourite under Billy Loughnane who is looking for a first Classic victory, with that position at the head of the market not guaranteed now that Ballydoyle and Godolphin's plans are confirmed. Bow Echo was drawn on the wing in 15 nearest the stand's rail, the position of last...

It was the perceived wisdom of 2024 that the 2-year-old fillies were a level above the colts and as Newmarket's two mile Classics loom this weekend, we get a first measurement of whether that has carried over. On the face of it, the line-ups for the Betfred-sponsored 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas suggest that the fillies' monument is the one most anticipated among Suffolk's hardcore. There's a good old Godolphin-Ballydoyle stand-off between two unbeaten peer leaders and TDN Rising Stars in Desert Flower and Lake Victoria to come on Sunday and while it...

Friday, Newmarket, Britain, post time: 16:05, BETFRED JOCKEY CLUB STAKES-G2, £125,000, 4yo/up, 12f 0y Field: Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Bellum Justum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Silver Knott (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Divina Grace (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}). TDN Verdict: One of Europe's most dubious Group 2s, but this year it holds up well with the accomplished Silver Knott racing in his home town for the first time since the 2023 2,000 Guineas. Ambiente Friendly looks like a horse that needs a confidence boost and with Godolphin's stalwart in...