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Good horses make good jockeys. Bowen is good when he is trying, which is not always. Skelton has improved mainly because he’s had very good horses to experiment with. A horse with the engine to be put anywhere at anytime in a race contributes hugely to the reputation of the jockey, and is the mainstay of that old saying – good horses make good jockeys.
Foe me there’s none better over fences than Charlie Deutsch.
He’s not always trying ? , he’s the current champion and miles in front this season , I can’t say I’ve ever seen him not try , Deutch has had 4 winners this season , 4% Win rate , it’s one of the worst on the table , he’s fine but nowhere near Sean
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
How the lad can have detractors is beyond me . He’s head and shoulders above every other Jockey riding in Britain and Ireland.
His work ethic and thirst for success probably does over reach natural horsemanship but I wouldn’t want anyone else on anything I’ve backed if I had a choice. Cobden, Skelton, Townsend and whoever else you want to name would throw the towel in on the likes of Booster Bob at Newbury last year.
As a punter or owner, you know you’re getting nothing but his best every single ride.
I had the pleasure of watching Sean throughout the summer at Perth. Some of his rides were absolutely superb.
In general you are only as good as your mounts but some jockeys are able to make their horses perform better than expected. McCoy was the master of it and there is no one better than Bowen at present.
Let’s be brutal here , unless he gets an injury this is going to a AP like jockey championship , it’s not even a contest
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Delta Work in The Cotswold Chase in January was about as blatant a case of a non-trier I’ve seen. Never put in the race even as a token gesture, going off at 22/1 – around 4 times the price merited by his form. Stewards at least paid lip service by having him in. A ‘lesser’ jock would have been punished. Here’s Timeform on it:
was never in contention, though his performance ‘under apparent tender handling’ was subject to a running-and-riding enquiry, his rider stating that in his view the horse had achieved his best possible placing and would benefit from a step up in trip; held up, not always fluent, lost touch fifteenth, plugged on straight, not given at all a hard time; he presumably has the Grand National as his main aim, this a more encouraging effort in that regard – his BHA mark is currently the same as that off which he was second to I Am Maximus in that race last spring, though that may be varied for the National.
Like many people on this thread, I genuinely rate Bowen. He is going to walk away with the Championship this season.
However, picking up on the point made above, there was lots of chatter this afternoon about Bowen’s effort (or lack of) on Masked Mistress in the 1.30 at Plumpton.
I was at the Sussex venue today. I have to admit I didn’t notice anything at the time because I was on the winner.
After watching the replay, I am not totally convinced Bowen would have won with a more forceful ride. I think the winner found plenty up the home straight.
However, it has to be said the sometimes all action Bowen didn’t exactly throw the kitchen sink at his horse. With more effort, I have little doubt it would have finished second.
He was all smiles in unsaddling enclosure afterwards. I couldn’t quite hear what he said to connections but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one win a little handicap somewhere, especially if the money is down.
The brazen neck he showed in the Cotswold Chase suggested he saw himself as untouchable. A Grade 2, a handful of runners, it’s worth taking a look at the replay.
It should also be pointed out that Masked Mistress drifted from something like 3/1 to 9/1, so the money clearly wasn’t down today.
1.28 Uttoxeter
House of Hapsburg.
Must have been 30-40 lengths behind going into the second circuit, looking like it was never going well. Yet won by a street.
Do any of our distinguished posters think Townsend would have won that race?
He is in a class of his own.It’s Townend. Not Townsend.
He can ride a very nice stalking race as proven on Banbridge in the King George last year, so yes he can win from a hold up position.
He is not required to ride too many indifferent jumping slugs that won’t pick up the bridle these days, as Mullins horses don’t race like that, but if his instructions were “this is an absolute boat but it’s 11-8 fav, stays and it’s best performance and that of its dam and siblings have all been on soft or heavy. Keep scrubbing along for 3 miles and hope that everything else pulls up” then yes I think he would have won. Possibly would have had the wit not to follow two tired horses into the third last and get hampered by a faller when there was ample room at the fence too.I am not suggesting it was a bad ride but couldn’t it be argued that rides where a horse is scrubbed along from a long way out tend to get a bit too much praise and attention? Was Wichita Lineman really McCoy’s best ride, for example?
Bowen received praise for a front running ride on Saturday but those rides don’t tend to get as much praise heaped on them as the scrubbed along rides do.
I put up that Townend have Bambino fever a poor ride , far to confident , Bowen is giving inferior horses superior rides , there’s absolutely no way Townend is winning on this thing
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Had a 20/1 winner in the AW Bumper at Lingfield today. I was keen enough to accept the 16/1, but it already saved the day. Only six runners and riding for a trainer who does well in this type of races makes the price even more incredible. Do people realize how good this man is and that 20/1 is a worthy risk for this kind of low-grade race?
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).
It amazes me how Bowen is made at times like sound like a old fashioned striper of a horse , he has all of he skills , that’s what makes him the top jockey , the Champion , he can judge pace , lead from the front , gets average horses to jump better , his strength is his biggest quality however his brain is just behind it
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
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