Welsh jockey Sean Bowen is to become an official ambassador for Ffos Las Racecourse near Llanelli.
21-year-old Sean, who originates from Little Newcastle in Pembrokeshire, has risen up the riding ranks in the last five years and is now one of the top ten jump jockeys in the country.
He comes from a family who have been making a big impression on jump racing for many years.
His father, Peter, is a leading racehorse trainer and his younger brother James was last season’s champion conditional jockey and also won the 2017 Coral Welsh Grand National on Raz De Maree.
All three were honoured at last year’s Welsh Horse Racing Awards.
Sean’s mother, Karen, was a very accomplished point to point rider and his eldest brother Micky successfully trains point to point horses.
Sean started his race riding career in pony racing and at the age of sixteen progressed through the point to point circuit before turning conditional for ten times champion trainer Paul Nicholls in the summer of 2014.
He went onto be the youngest ever champion conditional jockey when he won the title on the final day of his first season as a professional in 2015.
He is currently in 7th place in the Stobart Jump Jockeys Championship for the 2018/19 season and has ridden over 350 winners since taking out his professional licence.
Two of Sean’s biggest wins have come in the Bet 365 Gold Cup at Sandown Park on Just A Par in 2015 trained by Paul Nicholls (on the day he was crowned champion conditional) and then winning it again in 2017 on Henllan Harri, trained by his father.
Success also came last year when winning the Summer Plate at Market Rasen in July aboard More Bucks, again trained by his father and part-owned by brother Micky.
Most recently, Sean won the Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2) at Haydock on Lisnagar Oscar for Rebecca Curtis, on the same day he won the William Hill Grand National Trial Handicap Chase (Grade 3) on Robinsfirth for trainer Colin Tizzard.
As part of his new role, he will be writing a weekly blog for the racecourse website and on Ffos Las race days, he will be talking through his rides in the restaurant and hospitality boxes. There will also be an opportunity for customers to walk the course with him to find out what goes through a jockey’s mind during a race.
Phil Bell, Executive Director of Ffos Las Racecourse said:” Sean is very much a local boy made good and we are delighted he’s agreed to be our ambassador. He’s already a very successful jockey and has a huge future ahead of him.”
“I’m sure our customers will enjoy being able to follow his career more closely and hear from him regularly whether in person or via his weekly blog.”
Sean Bowen Said: “Ffos Las is a great racecourse and I really enjoy riding there. I am delighted to be part of the team in 2019.
“I hope that my involvement with the racecourse will encourage more people to come and experience what an enjoyable day’s racing can be experienced at Ffos Las”.
All details of Sean’s role will appear on the news pages of www.ffoslasracecourse.com as well as Facebook and Twitter (@FfosLasRC).
