They all have moments where average rides happen, the best riders tend not to have them quite as often as the majority of other riders do, which is what makes them the best or at least a level above the norm.
The scrubbed along from a long way out type rides are always more note worthy not simply because it is more visual but because it is more about perserverance rather than being a great jockey, it always ticks me off when a commentator will prefice those type of rides with the comment “insert jockey’s name” is the only one that could have won on him, he has lifted the horse home……
No he really hasn’t because if that was the case then all of those type rides (which invariably end up with the horse either being eased or pulled up regardless of how good the jockey is) would win, the horse is always the ex-factor as if they deign to run on, they likely will do that regardless of what class of jockey they have on their back.
To me Bowen is of a similar mould to AP, Johnson, Maguire and Scudamore in that they were more the no frills type of jockey that if you had a lazy sod of a horse that needed pushing/cajoling and getting down and dirty on for most of the race on a wet Wednesday mid-week day, then they were the jockeys that you would automatically look to whereas the likes of a Cobden, Ruby, Dunwoody and Francome were the jockeys you would look to for the big race day rides where you needed to be ice cool and deliver on the big stage………obviously either set of jockeys were more than capable of riding the other way too but they were often more known to ride in one particular style (or thats how I did/do perceive them anyway).