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I have no idea why he isn’t riding at the moment. Looks a bit strange to me, but I hate to speculate.
Has a small injury, isnt pushing it with all the grade 1s coming up, whats to speculate? There wont be anything happening with his job, hes the best jockey riding by a considerable margin lol
“There wont be anything happening with his job, hes the best jockey riding by a considerable margin lol”
I know, I’ve always held him in the highest regard. But, there could have been undisclosed family issues for instance.
Is the injury confirmed?
Must have missed that if it was but it would certainly explain how he hasn’t ridden since the Grand National itself and isn’t declared for any of Mullins at Cheltenham Wednesday or Thursday.
I guess the next big one will be the Irish National meeting on 20-21 April, which includes a G1 chase on 20 April which sees Ballyburn among its entries but bizarrely also sees Impaire Et Passe appearing in the betting (20s) for the Irish National
Err Ham have a watch of Sean Bowen , it’s easy to look good riding grade 1 horses , Bowen is the one ahead of everyone just now , has been for a while
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Agreed. His strength in a finish is phenomenal. One poster on here is touting him to replace Jack Kennedy.No! We want him riding in this country.
I heard him speaking to an owners’ group after their horse finished fourth at Ludlow. Came across really well, articulate and not in the least sumptuous.That man would be me , I don’t want him to leave the UK but I do want him riding at the top level
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
No one is remotely close to paul townend and lets be honest here if you needed a horse to win a grade 1, youd choose pt over bowen also, as good as bowen is at getting the best out of a horse.
The greatest trainer alive who could cherry pick any jockey riding without a moments hesitation, could pluck any jockey from any retained owner/trainer at any point, is also telling you its paul townend.
Big fan of bowen
Isnt close to PT
The Elliot job has not been advertised yet because there isn’t any vacancy, although it is probably only one bad fall away.
But talk of Bowen getting it doesn’t strike me as realistic. He is more than good enough but I very much doubt an Irish National Hunt trainer is going to appoint a British rider as stable jockey. That would not be very well received in Ireland.
I doubt Bowen would want to relocate anyway. And even if he did, based on Elliot’s current position it would not be any guarantee of future Cheltenham successes or a regular supply of Grade 1 winners.
Bowen isn’t close to Townend? That’s debatable with respect.
Given the quality of horses that Townend rides for a stable with unchallenged mastery on both sides of the Irish Sea, I suggest that there’s a dozen jockeys who would look equally competent. But there are few if any who can match Bowen at winning on a reluctant horse in a class 5 hurdle race at Uttoxeter or Plumpton.I like Bowen. I rate him as better than Harry Skelton and marginally better than Harry Cobden (although Cobden has been riding well recently).
But just because someone can lift home a moderate horse at a gaff track does not necessarily mean they will be just as good on top class horses. Brian Hughes no doubt lifted plenty of moderate horses home at Sedgefield and Hexham but his limitations have been exposed at Grade 1 level.
Sorry Ham but that’s rubbish , week in and week out Bowen is winning on horses he shouldn’t , he’s won the championship without a powerhouse stable , Bowen is comfortably the best jockey at the moment , tell me one horse that Towsend won on that Bowen wouldn’t have …..
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Thanks to his association with Mullins, Townend has never really been anything other than a jockey riding the G1 type horses (even when he was riding 2nd string to Ruby he would still be on horses that in other stables would potentially be G1s).
Whereas Bowen is (currently) the grafting mid week going here, there and everywhere jockey at any and all racecourses, a lot like AP was when riding for Daddy Pipe when he didn’t get access to a lot of G1 material whilst Dunwoody was at a stage in his career where he was cherry picking the G1 type horses for the likes of Nicholson/Henderson/Mullins/Meade/Hourigan, i.e. quality over quantity.
Do I think Bowen is capable of riding the G1 winners if given the opportunity at a big stable (absolutely no doubt) but those jobs are all pretty much on lock down and if you look at the various trainers he is riding for (his last 3 winners were for 3 different trainers as he is fast closing in on 900 rides this season), so at the moment he is probably much better suited to that type of arrangement if he wants to continuing adding to this year’s Jockey’s Title win in the immediate future.
Looking 3 or 4 years down the line, could I then see him transitioning into potentially say suceeding Nico (who will be 36 in August) as stable jockey to Henderson when Bowen will be around 30-31, again absolutely yes. I do find it hard to believe he would take an Irish stable retainer at this stage of his career let alone at any time…..unless of course a certain WP Mullins comes a calling.
Back to Townend, it would appear that he might have just been taking a short break as he is booked for two of Mullins in the 4:30 and 5:05 at Fairyhouse on Saturday.
Townend wasnt gifted the job at closutton, it was rides like arctic fire in the county and a million others like it whilst winning the championship that got him it
Bowen is phenominal, nowhere near tactically astute as townend, its not even a debate
Can argue about it until your blue in the face, but one WILL retire with likely the greatest record ever (should he stay fit)
And one wont
It’d be fairly difficult to have an objective measure of the merits of these two (Bowen and Townend) particularly as we don’t see them riding side by side very often.
I think it is fair to suggest both are top in their respective countries and as such there probably isn’t that much between them but impossible to measure other than subjectively personal viewpoint or preference. For me I think Townend ‘looks’ more stylish and does have the significant advantage of regularly riding horses that are a fair bit better their opponents, it’s easier to look stylish holding one up on the bridle than when pushing away half a mile out for example.
I watch every single hurdle race in the UK, often more than once, and the two jockeys that regularly stand out tactically are Sean Bowen and Gavin Sheehan. The latter is particularly eye-catching in terms of pace judgment.
Tactics, for me at least, are three-fold. Firstly, where is your horse best suited in terms of temperament (i.e. does he like to be in front or wide on his own, does he like to be in amongst it in a group of horses or does he need to do his own thing and be left alone, plus other variants of the theme.) Secondly, tactically what horses do you need to be either alongside, in front of or behind to give you an advantage. You don’t want to be on the right of a right-handed jumper. But you might want to be on his inside on a left-handed track. Or you might want to unsettle one of your rivals that likes a bit of space if your horse is Ok with that. And so on.
Thirdly, and normally the most important tactical aspect, pace management. I think both Bowen and Townend are very good in this regard and I motioned Sheehan too, if he’s out the back they are often going too fast and if he’s in front he’s normally not over-doing it.I don’t think anyone could definitely say which of Bowen and Townend are ‘the best’ other than just subjective opinion.
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