Bow Echo retirement dents hopes of Gstaad Golden Eagle raid

The likelihood of Coolmore sending outstanding three-year-old Gstaad for the Golden Eagle has just about evaporated with the retirement of superstar rival Bow Echo this week.

The pair have fought wonderful battles at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood during the English summer, with Bow Echo having his way each time.

After their duel on the downs, Bow Echo was lifted to 127 international rating for his Sussex Stakes success, while Gstaad was given a 125 number for being runner-up.

They are ratings that can only be dreamed about for Australian horses, which have no horse above 121 on World’s Best Thoroughbred ratings released on Thursday.

Bow Echo was retired after being injured in trackwork, while Gstaad is recovering from cuts he suffered in Sussex at Glorious Goodwood.

Aidan O’Brien had ruled a rematch with Bow Echo before he was retired, opting to target next month’s Prix Moulin de Longchamp, which would have fitted into a possible tilt at the Golden Eagle.

“He got galloped into at Goodwood and got a little bit of an infection in his hind leg,” O’Brien said.

“The antibiotics we put him on would usually mean that you can run him within seven days, but the cut was so deep that they had to put him on extra-strong antibiotics so it will take 14 days to get out of his system, so it will be the Moulin for him now. That’s probably where he will go next.”

O’Brien expects Gstaad to race on, but without Bow Echo to contend wit,h he could go to Champions Day at Ascot or the Breeders’ Cup, which is the preferred option for European stars.

“It obviously hurt him, because it was deep,” O’Brien said of the cuts from Goodwood.

 “He got two proper gashes in his hind leg, that’s why he had to go on the extra-strong antibiotic.”

Meanwhile, Bow Echo’s trainer George Boughey paid tribute to the best horse he has had in his young career in announcing the unbeaten star was retired.

“It has been the honour of a lifetime to train Bow Echo,” Boughey posted.

“He has given us some extraordinary days and taken everyone involved on a journey we will never forget.

“To retire unbeaten, having won the 2,000 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, and it is a great sadness that he was not here to see what a lifetime of breeding was able to produce.

“We will all miss seeing Bow Echo 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.

“Bow Echo’s unbelievable constitution and extraordinary ability have set him apart.”

International stars continue to be lifted in the ratings, with Scandivania up from 123 to 125 for his Goodwood Cup success, and Sovereignty going from 122 to 125 after winning the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.

Ombudsman, who runs at the Ebor Festival at York next week, and Ka Ying Rising remain at the top of the ratings on 131.