Sean Bowen rode four winners at Perth last Thursday to pass the half-century mark for the season and regain the lead in the jockeys’ title race from Harry Skelton. All four were for Olly Murphy. Two of them were having only their second or third start for the yard; the other pair had won last time out.
Bowen led Skelton 51-49 at the beginning of this week, while a brilliant September for his brother James (photographed) – 11 winners from 26 mounts – has seen him climb to third place in the title chase with 33. Last Wednesday he scored at Perth on Neil Mulholland’s Hidden Depths, who has been switching between the flat and chasing.
On Friday, James steered Flying Fortune to victory in the £70,000 Dragon Bet Fixed Brush Hurdle Final at Worcester – trained by his Dad, Peter and brother Mickey.
His latest win was at Market Rasen on Saturday, riding the Bowen trained (and family favourite) Francky Du Berlais to an all-the-way victory. The eleven-year-old has struggled since winning his second Summer Plate there two years ago, losing 22 races in a row, but here at last he faced a small field on good going at a track where he always runs well. It was won at the start, where he pinched a five-length lead with no exertion and soon extended it to ten, which the others could never peg back.
Wales can take some pride in Sean D Bowen, who is closing in on the title for flat racing’s champion apprentice, for his father comes from Carmarthenshire. His first couple of years riding in Ireland brought just eight winners, but in 2023 he rode 21. After taking a few months off in the winter he came over to this side of the Irish Sea and hasn’t looked back; winners flowed freely – 40 so far. A fruitful alliance with the up-and-coming trainer James Owen accounts for almost half of them.
David Probert made it 98 for the year on Andrew Balding’s filly Music Piece at Haydock on Saturday. She’d finished second at Ascot over a mile on soft ground earlier this month and handled similar going adequately. Probert was keen to settle her in the testing conditions and gave her every encouragement in the closing stages while resorting to his stick only once. Her lead was diminishing but she still had half a length in hand at the post. There is plenty of stamina in her breeding and given better ground next spring she could be up to Oaks trials standard.
Ffos Las will stage the £50,000 Dragon Bet Welsh Champion Hurdle on Sunday 13th October – advance tickets are £24 and there are hospitality boxes still available.
This fixture follows the two-day Unibet Jump Season Opener at Chepstow on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th October. This is the curtain raiser to the winter season. The highlight of the first day is the Grade 2 £50,000 Persian War Novices Hurdle, a race notable for producing staying chasers of the future. There’s also a Veterans Chase and the Welsh Jump Jockeys Derby, a charity race on the flat. The Saturday features the £75,000 Wasdell Group Silver Trophy Hurdle and the Native River Chase, which can be a stepping stone for Grand National-standard stayers.
