'She was mad fresh this morning' - George Boughey changes plans for Grade 1 winner after impressive work

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Bow Echo's shock retirement appeared to have cost George Boughey his chance of Group 1 glory at Longchamp this weekend, but such is the impression Survie has made since her return from Grade 1 glory in America that he has changed her plans. 

Sunday's Qatar Prix du Moulin had been suggested as a potential stepping stone to the Breeders' Cup for the best horse Boughey had ever trained, but the trainer will now head to Paris with his sights set on the Group 1 Qatar Prix Vermeille with Survie.

The five-year-old was last seen reeling off back-to-back wins at Saratoga, taking the Grade 2 Glens Falls Stakes before producing a brilliant last-to-first finish in the Christophe Clement Turf Stakes to claim her first success at the highest level.

After that scintillating performance, Survie was expected to be aimed at the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland on October 31, but the mare has delighted her trainer since returning to Newmarket and will instead make her third attempt in top-level company this season on Arc Trials day before heading back to America.

"I was keen after the Clement to go straight to the Breeders’ Cup," Boughey said. "But the way that she’s come back, I couldn’t be happier with her. She’s a course-and-distance winner at Longchamp on slow ground, and we obviously know she handles faster ground. It presents a good opportunity to see her again before she goes back to America.

"Even after the long journey back from America, she breezed yesterday morning and was as well as we’ve ever seen her work. She was mad fresh this morning, and we’re all systems go for the weekend."

The daughter of Churchill won over a mile and a quarter on her stable debut at Lingfield in January after joining Boughey from Nicolas Clement and Frauke Hermans, and has since been stepped back up in trip, culminating in two victories over a mile and a half at Saratoga, with further international targets under consideration later in the year.

He said: "She’s a filly who has been working back towards her optimum trip of 12 furlongs, and I think the programme lends itself better to fillies in the second half of the year.

"We haven’t over-raced her, and I'd love to think she could be racing for some global money," he said. "There are mile-and-a-half races in Hong Kong and Japan after the Breeders' Cup. 

"We'd like to keep her busy up to a mile and a half, and the world becomes a smaller place for travelling horses at the moment. When you’ve got one that can travel, you certainly look to do so."

George Boughey: "When you’ve got one that can travel, you certainly look to do so"Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Training such a smart mare for prolific owners Michael and Doreen Tabor is further testament to Boughey's growing operation. Survie became his second Group 1 winner for Coolmore after Believing landed the Al Quoz Sprint in April 2025.

He added: "It’s a huge honour to have two Group 1 winners for them, and for our stable to be rewarded with a filly like Survie is massive. But to get her to step up to Group 1 level is what she was bought for, and she was a Group 2 winner when she joined us."

Forfeits for the €600,000 contest are at midday on Wednesday and plenty of smart opposition could remain in the line-up, including Oaks winner Thundering On and Irish Oaks winner Johanna Walsh for Joseph O'Brien, while Kalpana could represent Juddmonte and Andrew Balding.

Read more here

From a four-horse operation to the brilliant Bow Echo - inside the rise and rise of 'trailblazer' George Boughey 

Arc Trials day: how the Vermeille, Niel and Foy could reshape the €5 million race's ante-post market 

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