3 hours ago
2
Sean Bowen can claim to be the best jockey in jumps racing by some distance. Next month he will be confirmed as champion jockey for the second successive year as, on 210 victories so far, he is 107 ahead of Harry Skelton, his closest rival. Bowen is already looking ahead to next season, where he harbours serious ambitions of becoming the first jump jockey to ride 300 winners in a single campaign. These are staggering numbers that stand in stark contrast to his miserable record at the Cheltenham festival.
The Welshman smiles more than any other jockey I’ve met – for he operates in a gruelling trade full of hard and often taciturn men who are all fated to lose far more often than they win. But Bowen has a remarkably phlegmatic outlook that means he grins when I read out his meagre statistics from the Cheltenham festival. Apart from not having a winner in 52 rides, the average starting price of those horses was 40-1.
“That explains how hard it is to get good rides at Cheltenham,” he says. “Over the last 10 years it’s been so dominated by the Irish that it’s very hard for the British to even get a sniff of winning. I’ve never gone to Cheltenham with good chances. But I’m hoping this year will be the year.”
This week, particularly in the Gold Cup on Friday, has the potential to become a fairytale for Bowen, the trainer Rebecca Curtis and Welsh racing. Curtis has been close to his family for years and she trains Haiti Couleurs, whom Bowen rides in a wide-open race. Winning the Gold Cup would be some way for Bowen to break his festival duck.
“I’d be happy if I did it on Tuesday and then won the Gold Cup,” he says. “On the first day I’ve got Resplendent Grey, Wade Out and Booster Bob. They’re in handicaps and all between 10-1 and 20-1 so they’re hard to win.
“But Wade Down is second favourite for the National Hunt Chase and Haiti Couleurs is probably my best ride of the week. Native River and Synchronised were Gold Cup winners that are quite like Haiti Couleurs. They all won the Welsh National, stay very well and jump very well. I see no negatives.”
Haiti Couleurs won the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham last year but, in keeping with his festival misfortune, Bowen was on a different horse. “I ride for [trainer] Olly Murphy all year and I was on his horse, Resplendent Grey. Haiti Couleurs won and I finished fourth, which was a bit annoying. But I was very lucky I got back on Haiti and we won the Irish National soon after.”
Bowen’s emotional connection to Haiti Couleurs is deepened because of his enduring links with Curtis. “She lived 15 minutes down the road from where I grew up and she trains on the farm next to Dad’s [the now retired trainer Peter Bowen, who has passed on his horses to Bowen’s eldest brother, Mickey].
“When she was 16, the first yard she worked in was at Dad’s. There were times when Mum and Dad were so busy, they’d find anyone off the yard to babysit Mickey, me and James [his younger brother, who is fourth in the jockeys’ championship]. Becky did that a couple of times. So it’s great Haiti Couleurs has given me and Becky some very good days – and hopefully we’ve got a special day ahead.”
Could they win the Gold Cup? “Yes. I honestly believe Haiti has a better chance than most. He loves the track, has real stamina, jumps very solidly and it’s the most open Gold Cup in a very long time.
“Jango Baie’s run in the King George was quite eye-catching while Harry Redknapp’s horse, The Jukebox Man, won that one. I was second on Banbridge [another Gold Cup contender], which was a bit annoying. But the Welsh National was the day after so I didn’t have to put up with it for long because of Haiti Couleurs.”
Bowen may seem like a serial winner, outside Cheltenham, but the thrill of victory rarely lasts. A few weeks ago, when he recorded his 200th winner of the season, he says: “The buzz had worn off by the time I was in the car.
“My family are from west Wales so they were all at Ffos Las and it was great. We had a quick bite to eat in the pub before I headed home. By the time you get in the car you’re worrying about what’s happening the next day.”
But if he wins on Friday he will, surely, savour the joy for a long time? “It would be the biggest day of my career,” he says. “As a kid you dream of winning the Gold Cup and the Grand National. It would be lovely to get one ticked off. But you ride the Gold Cup winner and you’re off to Uttoxeter the next day. It doesn’t stop.”
Has it eaten away at him that he’s never had a festival winner? “Not really. I’ve ridden loads of winners at [other meetings at] Cheltenham. I know I’m going to ride plenty of festival winners.”
Bowen is the most driven and successful jockey in jump racing since AP McCoy – who was champion jockey 20 times in a row and rode a record 289 winners in a season. “I’m not as grumpy as him,” Bowen says, joking, when explaining the differences between him and McCoy. “When I started I looked up to AP and he was always tense and worried. I thought I needed to be like that, but I soon found out I’m better when I’m happy and have a positive mindset.”
McCoy rode his final race on 25 April 2015 – the day an 18‑year‑old Bowen was confirmed as conditional jockey of the year. “I was very lucky in that most young jockeys didn’t get to ride with AP, Richard Johnson, Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty, Davy Russell, all the big stars,” Bowen says. “I started when they were still riding and AP presented me with my conditional jockey trophy on his last day of racing.
“AP was champion 20 times. I’m not going to win another 18 times. I’m 28 now and I definitely don’t want to be riding when I’m that old. I love looking at the stats, but I don’t know how he did that. His mindset was incredible. Hopefully if I’m champion jockey a few more times and then have a family I won’t mind slowing down.”
There is no sign of Bowen easing off any time soon, as he says: “The second-most winners ridden in a season was 235 by Richard Johnson [in 2016] so that’s a little target [for the remaining weeks of this campaign].”
What does Bowen need to do next year to reach the seemingly impossible milestone of 300 winners? “I can’t say work harder because I feel like I’m at my maximum. I think it’s just about the yards around me having very good seasons.”
Harry Cobden, rather than Bowen, has been offered the chance to become stable jockey to JP McManus’s powerful collection of horses. “It’s opinions,” Bowen says with a shrug. “AP’s still well in with JP and he’s a big fan of Harry. But Harry’s brilliant and well worthy of a great job.”
McCoy has said no rider will reach 300 winners without having a mighty yard behind him, as he did when riding for Martin Pipe. “Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong,” Bowen says. “Martin Pipe was a god at times. Nobody could get near him and it’s a big advantage, but never say never.”
Bowen’s commitment runs so deep that he has had 858 rides this season. “Sometimes I’m tired as it’s a mad amount of work. Luckily I had two days off [last] week, but in the run-up to Christmas I didn’t have one day off in three months. The winners keep driving you on.”
Is it more draining mentally than physically? “100%. You spend so much time in the car. I’m lucky I have a driver, Lindsey, and she’s great. But I ride at Ayr, where it’s six and a half hours there and the same time back. You’re up at half-four in the morning and back at 11 at night, which is a stupidly long time in the car.”
How does he use that time? “I sleep a lot, but I watch all the replays of my races on my iPad and all the replays of the horses I’m riding next. Some days it can be six races and [his wife] Harriet doesn’t need to see me on the iPad at home.”
How does Harriet feel about him being away so much? “She’s good. I met Harriet when we were working at Paul Nicholls together. So she understands racing and we’ve been together since we were 18. She’s as keen on me doing well as I am.”
Bowen listens to many audiobooks in the car, most are sporting biographies where the star overcomes trauma to finally triumph gloriously. His story seems different. “There are always ups and downs, but I don’t feel I had any [real adversity]. I had a brilliant childhood with brilliant parents. I suppose there have been times when I’ve been sacked, but that drives you forward.”
Which was the most testing moment? “I was at Paul Nicholls when I was a kid and things didn’t progress. Harry Cobden got the job and he was younger than me. So I went home, rode freelance and for my parents.
“I had a really good season and then I went to Harry Fry’s and things didn’t work out. So I had to go freelance again. But I look back and I wouldn’t have been good enough to take that [Nicholls] job at the time. I didn’t have the right mindset.”
When he was younger, Bowen’s allergy to horse hair was, briefly, a problem. “I had really bad eczema and asthma and if Dad came in from clipping and had horse hair on him, I’d be itching for days. I’m still a bit allergic to horses so I take an antihistamine or else I’d be sneezing, coughing and having running eyes all day. It’s a funny old thing to have as a jockey.”
Bowen laughs, as he does when I ask if he ever felt he had to sacrifice too much to become champion jockey. “No. I left school at 14 and my dad was like: ‘He’s fucking useless in school. Get him doing something he’s good at.’
“I rode out all morning from seven until one and then had a tutor from two to four. You miss your friends, but I was ready to do whatever it took to be a jockey.”
Unlike his lack of concentration at school, Bowen is defined by his laser-focus today. “I have that now because I love racing and I love riding winners. I just want more and I’d love the next ones to be at Cheltenham.”
English (US)