Sean Bowen . . . The Story Of The Pembrokeshire Boy Who Became A Welsh Racing Giant

Championships are not just won by extreme talent, but a relentless dedication to the cause.

In a breathtaking season – which culminated at Sandown on Saturday – Sean Bowen took over 900 rides and clocked over 75,000 miles in his car to take rides at 40 of the 41 jumps tracks.

While he did not make it to Windsor, he rode at a staggering 20 per cent strike-rate throughout the season and amassed 180 winners in Britain, to be named the very best.

In the blood

Being a jockey was always the destiny for the man born into a racing family in the village of Little Newcastle in Pembrokeshire.

His father, Peter, is one of Wales’ most successful jumps trainers, while mother Karen was a champion in the point-to-point ranks. 

Bowen, at the age of eight, told his father he would be champion jockey one day (it took just 19 years), although one obstacle he faced was a severe allergy to horse hair.

It is still something he suffers with, having sneezing fits when animals are brushed or clipped.

Yet, he took the traditional route into the sport to ride ponies and then ventured into point-to-points, where, although unseated in his first ride, he made an instant mark and was champion male novice rider for the season. 

That caught the attention of 14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls and Bowen became a conditional, even riding a winner under rules in December 2013. 

His career went from strength to strength and he made history in the 2014-15 season, becoming the youngest champion conditional at the age of 17. 

He collected his prize as AP McCoy bowed out on his final day at Sandown’s season finale, but stole the show as he rode Just A Par to a 14-1 surprise in the day’s highlight, the bet365 Gold Cup.

Emerging force

Based with Nicholls, Bowen was given major opportunities on the likes of Clan Des Obeaux and Cyrname in the early stages of his career and in December 2016 pulled off a memorable first success over the Grand National fences aboard As De Mee in the Grand Sefton.

That success, for a horse part-owned by national treasure Judi Dench, meant his agent became not so secret as leading trainers all requested Bowen’s services and further big-race wins followed for the likes of Nicky Henderson. Colin Tizzard and, of course, his father Peter.

Aintree would prove to be a great setting for Bowen as he rode a first Grade 1 success aboard If The Cap Fits, when snapped up as Harry Fry’s number, in the 2019 Liverpool Hurdle. 

Just three years later he enjoyed one of the great moments of his career when riding Mac Tottie to win the Topham, over the Grand National fences for his father Peter, in a great Bowen family moment. 

Even brother James, who had now become one of the leading young riders in the weighing room, could be seen celebrating on the rails after he had unseated earlier in the race.

James Bowen's mad dash!

On route to the title

Sean Bowen’s career completely transformed after the Covid-19 pandemic as in the 2022-23 season he enjoyed a first career century.

With 125 winners he had improved from fifth in the championship to second with eyes on the prize.

Helped by an association with the fast emerging Olly Murphy stable, Bowen came out of the blocks flying in the 2023-24 season, building up a 31-winner lead by Christmas.

Yet disaster would strike as he faced a knee injury which kept him out for a number of weeks as Harry Cobden halved the deficit and had the momentum.

That kept up a tiring battle for the championship, with the two jockeys both chasing a first success, but Cobden would prevail by seven winners.

The championship season

Bowen was fuelled to go one better in the following season and luck certainly seemed to be on his side.

In just the first week of the season, he was thrown to the floor with a rival horse just a millimetre from landing on top of his head.

The season could have been so different.

Remarkably, Bowen walked away unscathed and survived the whole season without a significant injury as he built up another big lead heading into the winter.

This year it was a former champion, in Harry Skelton, gunning him down but Bowen was riding better than ever.

In November he rode 30 winners, his best tally for a single month, and the form continued as he picked up notable successes at Cheltenham along the way.

Perhaps the best of them all was an unbelievable win on Booster Bob in Newbury’s Greatwood Gold Cup, with his mount seemingly having no chance turning in, before rallying for the most unlikely of wins.

Dedication and consistency ensured the title race was all but over going into the final stages of the season, allowing Bowen to head to Ireland and ride Haiti Couleurs in the Irish Grand National.

It would not count towards his championship bid, but it did provide Bowen with arguably his biggest win yet with a dominant front-running performance from the horse trained not far from his Pembrokeshire home by Rebecca Curtis.

A Gold Cup bid could even await in 2026.

But, undoubtedly, the biggest day so far in the rapidly evolving Sean Bowen story came at Sandown on Saturday when he collected the champion jockey prize, at the age of 27, from AP McCoy.

It was ten years on from standing beside the legendary jockey as champion conditional and there was further symmetry as he also won the big race of the day aboard Resplendent Grey.

A stag-do in Tenerife before a marriage in the summer awaits Bowen in the immediate future, but he already has an eye on reaching 200 winners in a season. 

The Sean Bowen story is far from finished.