KEEP yourself in the best company and your horses in the worst is a well-used phrase. But, of course, that counts for little when you have impending stallion careers to plan. Horses must race in the races that matter, those with centuries of prestige.

Bow Echo went slam bang into elevated company on Saturday - Timeform placing the latest 2000 Guineas winner in a position where only five horses have earned a higher rating in winning the Guineas since 1970 (the European pattern was introduced the following year), and all of those are legends of the turf, Brigadier Gerard 141 (1971), El Gran Senor 136 (1984), Nijinsky 135 (1970), Frankel 135 (2011) and Dancing Brave 134 (1986).