It’s long past time for BBC Wales to correct a glaring oversight — and honour Sean Bowen as their Sports Personality of the Year.
Since the award’s inception in 1954, no jockey and not a single figure from horse racing has ever won it.
In a year when Bowen has risen to the summit of British sport, that omission now looks increasingly indefensible.
At just 28, the Pembrokeshire rider has become the dominant force in National Hunt racing.
Week after week, in every corner of the UK, he has set the benchmark in the fight to retain his Champion Jump Jockey crown.
He won that title for the first time in April, becoming only the third Welshman to do so — and the first since Dick Francis more than 70 years ago.
Anyone scanning the current standings might assume this season’s title race is tight, with a group of riders clustered together between 43 and 58 winners.
But the pack is scrapping for second place. Bowen is in a different postcode: 139 victories already, with winter barely underway. In racing terms, he's 20 lengths clear.
Bowen is not merely outperforming his peers — many seasoned observers believe he is the most naturally gifted jockey since the incomparable AP McCoy.
Seven-time champion Peter Scudamore has even argued Bowen is the most talented rider he has ever seen.
Those comparisons felt justified at Cheltenham recently, when Bowen produced a breathtaking ride on novice chaser Wade Out.
In atrocious conditions, caked in mud and seemingly beaten, he conjured a winning run through pure skill, nerve and competitive instinct.
Days later, he ticked off another milestone by winning at the newly revived Windsor Racecourse, meaning he has now ridden winners at every active track in the UK.
In a nation that routinely celebrates its rugby icons, football stars, cyclists, boxers and golfers, Bowen’s achievements have largely slipped under the radar. They shouldn’t.
His 2025 campaign is not only extraordinary within racing — it stands among the most significant Welsh sporting achievements of the year.
Racing is unforgiving. The daily routine demands dawn starts, relentless travel, strict dieting and recovery from injuries that would end most sporting careers.
Jockeys live with risk as a constant companion, throwing themselves into obstacles at 35mph on half-ton animals.
It requires courage, discipline and a mentality few athletes possess.
Yet in seven decades, the BBC Wales award has never acknowledged anyone from this world — not because Wales lacks racing talent, but because the sport is too often treated as peripheral.
Bowen’s story should change that.
Raised in Little Newcastle, he grew up in a household steeped in racing.
His father, Peter, was a respected trainer, his mother, Karen, rode in point-to-points, and his brother, James, is also a top-level jockey himself.
The only complication? Sean was allergic to horse hair — and still is.
Even today, too much close contact sets him off sneezing.
But that didn’t stop him rising through pony races and local point-to-points to reach the professional ranks.
He first made headlines at 17, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Conditional Jockeys’ title.
Since then, he has built a reputation for tactical sharpness, flawless timing and ruthless finishing strength.
Trainers trust him. Fellow jockeys admire his composure. Punters know that when his name appears on a racecard, their horse has a serious chance.
His success this year has been built on consistency.
Bowen has ridden major winners for the likes of Paul Nicholls, Olly Murphy and his father’s stable, showing adaptability across every type of horse and every kind of course.
Even setbacks — injuries, falls, long spells on the sidelines — have only fuelled his determination.
But what makes Bowen such a deserving candidate is not just the sheer volume of winners.
It’s the manner of their execution: the intelligence, the calmness, the absence of showmanship.
He doesn’t chase attention. He simply performs, quietly and relentlessly.
He embodies qualities that Wales celebrates in its sporting heroes — toughness, humility, dedication — yet racing remains largely absent from the national conversation.
For too long, the BBC Wales award has been dominated by rugby internationals, footballers, Olympians and cyclists.
But when a Welsh athlete completely controls one of Britain’s toughest professional sports, recognition should follow.
A victory for Bowen this year would signal that Wales values excellence in all its forms — not just in its most visible sports.
Jockeys are elite athletes by any standard. They balance extraordinary strength with delicate precision, handle pressure with icy clarity, and endure physical demands beyond those in most other disciplines.
Bowen has shown all of that throughout his career.
He has taken bone-breaking falls, fought through rehab, returned stronger, and consistently delivered when others would have faltered.
Awards should celebrate achievement, character and admiration.
In 2025, no Welsh sporting story captures those qualities more completely than Sean Bowen’s.
It’s time the BBC Wales judging panel finally acknowledges it.
