St James's Palace Stakes odds: Bow Echo aims to stand tall

Bow Echo maintained his perfect record in landing last month's 2,000 Guineas for trainer George Boughey and will now seek to add the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

The Night Of Thunder colt won the opening British Classic of the season on the Rowley Mile in May to make it four wins in four career starts.

He was ridden patiently by Billy Loughnane in the colts Classic and soon hit the front as the field hit rising ground before coming clear for a two-length success in the colours of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid.

Bow Echo has done all his running at this mile trip and now makes his way to Ascot for the first time after successes at Newbury, Haydock and Newmarket (twice).

Bow Echo looked a well above average winner of the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket and will look to join recent winners of the Rowley Mile race like Gleneagles (2015), Galileo Gold (2016), Poetic Flare (2021) and Coroebus (2022) who have followed up in this contest.

Billy Loughnane gave Bow Echo a consummate ride in the Newmarket Classic and will be thrilled to keep their association going here, at the start of a week where the jockey admits he has an "astonishing book of rides" to come at Royal Ascot.

Aidan O'Brien has won the St James's Palace Stakes a record eight times and the Ballydoyle supremo will be hoping Newmarket runner-up Gstaad can find some way of overturning that form with Bow Echo now.

Ryan Moore once more partners the Starspangledbanner colt, who has since bagged the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh in straightforward fashion.

He also won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf over this trip at Del Mar in November and has happy memories of Royal Ascot, having won the Coventry Stakes (6f) last summer on just his second career start.

Joining Gstaad is stablemate Puerto Rico, a Wootton Bassett colt and twice a Group 1 winner on testing ground in France last season over 7f/1m.

Christophe Soumillon was on board for those wins in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Criterium International, deputising for the injured Moore, and returns in the saddle now after Puerto Rico finished only fourth in last month's French 2,000 Guineas on his comeback.

Charlie Appleby's Talk Of New York missed the Guineas at Newmarket, but has since run out an easy winner of the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown and the exciting Godolphin-owned Wootton Bassett colt now makes his maiden foray into Group 1 company with still plenty more to offer after just four starts.

The Robson Aguiar-trained Power Blue for owners Amo Racing was a Group 1-winning juvenile at the Curragh last summer in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes, but has toiled in both the English and Irish Guineas this season, while the field is completed by Lord Britain for trainer Ismail Mohammed.

He was 20 lengths behind Bow Echo at Newmarket and, while he landed a handicap at Kempton on the Polytrack since, he's facing an uphill challenge on form and ratings back in this company.

St James's Palace Stakes betting odds

(Odds will display when market is available)

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.