The Glorious Goodwood euphoria didn't last long, did it? By Monday morning, the Jockey Club had announced its intention to join Ascot and Plumpton in discontinuing its membership of the Racecourse Association (RCA) at the end of this year.The Jockey Club's portfolio of 15 racecourses spans the length of England, from Carlisle down to Exeter, with the 'crown jewel' tracks of Epsom, Newmarket, Sandown, Cheltenham and Aintree in between. Once you add in the heft of Ascot, it's not simply a matter of there being more than a quarter of British tracks outside the RCA by 2027, more that the RCA, which is a 50 per cent shareholder of the BHA, will no longer represent some of the most powerful racecourses in the country. Following a governance review, the RCA had on Saturday announced several key recommendations, including a change which would see its one-member one-vote system adjusted to a 25 per cent share for each of its four main groups. Currently, those four are the Jockey Club, Arena Racing Company (ARC), a group of large independent racecourses including Ascot, Chester, Goodwood, Newbury and York, and the small independent racecourses. While representatives of Goodwood and York have voiced their approval of the RCA announcement, the Jockey Club does not agree.The recent appointment of Simon Cox as the new BHA chair may have calmed the waters for a few days, but Cox doesn't take up his post until October, and by that stage it looks as though a constitutional restructuring of the BHA will be top of his to-do list.While politics inside and outside racing continue to cause plenty of reasons for sleepless nights, the sport itself is really putting on the razzle-dazzle this scorching summer.Deauville's month-long jamboree kicked off on Sunday with the G1 Prix Rothschild at the head of proceedings. It seems unfair to suggest that Blue Bolt has been something of a bolt from the blue this season – after all, she did finish runner-up to Fallen Angel in the Sun Chariot on her final start of last year – but the daughter of Blue Point was unraced at two and flew a little under the radar in 2025. It is an altogether different scenario this time around, with a spotless four from four this season, including two victories over the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes winner Precise (Starspangledbanner) in the Falmouth Stakes and the Prix Rothschild on Blue Bolt's first run outside the UK.Along with fellow Andrew Balding trainee Kalpana (Study Of Man), Blue Bolt is providing Juddmonte with a glorious summer, and it would be no surprise to see Sunly (Night Of Thunder) add to the Group 1 haul in due course following her two excellent runs behind Aventure then Calandagan in the G2 Prix Corrida and G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud respectively. Diamond More Precious With Each RunAidan O'Brien's array of eight Classic victories this season has been provided by Christmas Day, Constitution River, Gstaad, Benvenuto Cellini, Precise, True Love and Diamond Necklace, and it is the latter who is emerging as the most exciting prospect to date, closely rivalled by Constitution River. They have each run six times, and only a short-head has denied Constitution River matching Diamond Necklace with an unbeaten record. He was narrowly beaten by Godolphin's Distant Storm when making his debut at Newmarket's 2025 July meeting. We can look forward to the return of Eclipse winner Constitution River in the Juddmonte International at York, while Diamond Necklace sparkled in Sussex last week when taking on her elders for the first time in the Nassau Stakes. She is not only the perfect first-crop advertisement for her young sire St Mark's Basilica – who is also responsible for the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Thesecretadversary – but also for the forthcoming Arqana August Sale, which gets underway on August 15. Diamond Necklace, bred by Ecurie des Monceaux and Skymarc Farm, was the star of that sale ring back in 2024 when sold to Coolmore for €1.7m, and her Night Of Thunder half-sister, now named Marylebone, followed suit last year. She topped the sale at €3m, bought by Amo Racing. They of course follow the Group 1 winners Chicquita and Magic Wand, as well as the Prix de Diane runner-up Philomene, in a glittering line-up of runners for their dam Prudenzia (Dansili), whose yearling colt by Siyouni is all but guaranteed to be one of the leading lights at Arqana this time around.Diamond Necklace is not the only feather in the cap of the 2024 August Sale, as Constitution River was also found there by Coolmore. The son of Wootton Bassett, bred by Pierre Talvard of Haras du Cadran, was bought for €400,000, which now seems a modest sum given his stallion potential. His Kodiac half-sister will be among the Cadran draft this time around. Follow Bow Echo Wherever He GoesWith Joseph O'Brien having won the Oaks and Irish Oaks this year, the only two trainers without the surname O'Brien to have got in on the European Classic action so far are George Boughey and Francis Graffard, with Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) and Rayif (Sea The Moon) respectively. The euphoric reception given to Bow Echo after his Guineas victory back in May has grown with each triumph, to Ascot for the St James's Palace Stakes and on to Goodwood for the dramatically thrilling showdown of the Sussex Stakes. Of course every member of the Coolmore team would have been hoping for a different outcome, as would Gstaad's excellent breeder Kelly Thomas, who was at Goodwood last week to see both members of her entire foal crop of 2023 compete at one of Britain's flagship meetings. Along with the Sussex Stakes runner-up Gstaad, his erstwhile paddock-mate, the 87-rated Zennor Storm (Mohaather), was a close second in the HKJC World Pool Handicap. Bar those with a personal connection to Gstaad, however, there appeared to be a unanimous roar as Billy Loughnane wriggled his way out of trouble and deployed the after-burners on Bow Echo to shoot home for their third consecutive Group 1 victory. Bow Echo and Billy Loughnane | Racingfotos Only time will tell if we see this smashing colt race again in Britain. Let's hope so. But in the meantime, if he heads to Deauville for the Prix Jacques Le Marois, make sure you are on course to see him, even if you have to swim the Channel to get there. Horses like Bow Echo don't come around too often. Granted, his growing fan club has as much to do with the dynamic team of young men surrounding him, in Loughnane, Boughey and assistant trainer Henry Morshead, but this horse is undeniably special. His victory last Wednesday against the stunning sunlit backdrop of the Sussex Downs was a giant dose of sporting Prozac. For the 1m 36.03s it took him to reach the winning post in front, and for jubilant hours afterwards, all other worldly woes were forgotten as those at Goodwood thanked their lucky stars that they were there. Goodwood Gold StarsIt's a long way from Scotland to Sussex but Jim Goldie and Katie Scott made their respective trips worthwhile when American Affair (Washington DC) bounced back to land the G2 King George Qatar Stakes and Naana's Shadow (Havana Grey) added to her terrific season with victory in the Buccellati Handicap. Panamas should be doffed not only to Scott but to Naana's Shadow's owner Summerstorm Bloodstock, who bought her in the Tattersalls Online sale last November for 20,000gns. She was already a winner by that stage for Alice Haynes, but her progression this year, from a mark of 72 to the 94 which she won off last Thursday, has taken in four more victories, including at Epsom on Derby day and at York. An even better buy from a Tattersalls Online sale, however, was that of Sing The Blues (Space Blues), who was bought by her owner Gary Downie on July 1 for 6,000gns and has won both her starts since then, at Newmarket and Goodwood, earning prize-money of £38,665.Weighing-Room WondersWhile we wax lyrical about Billy Loughnane, it is important also to acknowledge Ireland's excellent champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle, who gave several masterclasses at Goodwood, including on board Defiantly (Kamekogv) and Galen (Gleneagles) when riding four winners for the week's leading trainer Joseph O'Brien. Visitors to Saturday's Shergar Cup at Ascot are in for a treat as both Ryan Moore and Browne McMonagle have joined the Britain and Ireland team along with Saffie Osborne, who is also enjoying her best season to date and is in seventh place in the championship.Ride of the week, however, goes to Kaiya Fraser, who boldly exploited a gap on the rail to bag his first Group win in the G2 Vintage Stakes aboard Dr Rascal (Sottsass) for Oliver Cole and owner-breeders Julia and Charlie Rosier.Masar in the MixHe is perhaps an unlikely hero but stallion of the week goes to Masar, sire of a two-year-old double at Goodwood on Thursday courtesy of Sword Salute and Avalon Queen, followed by a first-time-out juvenile success at Epsom for the Willie Carson-bred Camarda Rc. It is worth remembering that Masar was a pretty early two-year-old himself, as was his sire and fellow Derby winner New Approach, and he broke his maiden at Goodwood in the May of his juvenile season when beating Invincible Army over six furlongs. Later that season, he won the G3 Solario Stakes. Masar's 1,000 Guineas third Venetian Lace was third again at Goodwood for Charlie Johnston in the G3 Gordon Stakes, while among his other leading lights this season are the G3 John Smith's Silver Cup winner Mount Atlas, Listed Hedge of Oaks Stakes victrix Dreamasar, and the G2 Oaks d'Italia runner-up Lady Evi.Masar's current two-year-olds were conceived during his penultimate season at Dalham Hall Stud. He has spent the last two seasons standing alongside Fifty Stars at the Hickey family's Sunnyhill Stud in Ireland. A New Door Opens For Jim CrowleyWe say farewell, but only for now, to Jim Crowley, who hung up his boots on Saturday after a glittering riding career on the Flat and over jumps. Undoubtedly, he would have wished to go out on a winner rather than by the shocking fall he took when Almeraq clipped heels and came down in the Garrowby Stakes last September. There has been a happier outcome for the son of Dark Angel, who returned to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot for William Haggas and owner-breeder Shadwell Estate Company. For that operation's retained jockey of the last decade, however, the injuries sustained that day ultimately forced a premature retirement from the weighing-room.Though we will no longer see Crowley in the saddle, a new dawn beckons as he prepares to launch his training career from the splendid Coombelands estate in Sussex. We wish him continued success in this new role. The post Seven Days: Summer Shimmers but Storm Clouds Build appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.