Bowen hoping to be Resplendent with championship crown

Sean Bowen has already pledged to come back for more as he prepares to lift the British champion jump jockey trophy for the first time at Sandown on Saturday, where he hopes to end on a high.

The 27-year-old has finished second in the table for the past two seasons, missing out narrowly to Harry Cobden last term after a pivotal spell out of action due to injury.

This time luck has stuck around throughout the campaign for the Welshman, who hails from Fishguard and was raised in a racing family as his father Peter trains on a joint licence that he will hand over solely to his eldest son Michael next year.

Bowen credits the support of his parents for the upwards trajectory his career has followed up to his first title, a career which began on the family gallops and then the pony racing field.

“It’s something you dream of as a kid and you’re racing the ponies up the gallops. You dream of being AP McCoy, Richard Johnson and Brian Hughes, I can’t quite believe it’s going to be me,” he said.

“It starts with my parents, they’ve always been my biggest supporters, and then my agent (Alain Cawley) has done an incredible job.

“He’s certainly kept me very busy anyway! By Saturday, I’ll have had nearly 900 rides and AP McCoy only had over 900 rides in two seasons of his career.

“It’s a lot of rides and it’s kept me very busy.”

Olly Murphy has provided the bulk of Bowen’s runners and before the curtain falls on the season at Sandown, the two will team up with Resplendent Grey in the bet365 Gold Cup.

Interestingly, the grey’s form connects with Bowen’s highlight of the season, which was winning the Irish Grand National aboard Rebecca Curtis’ Haiti Couleurs – a horse who beat Resplendent Grey into fourth in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

“Olly Murphy has been my biggest supporter trainer-wise,” said Bowen, who has reached three figures for the Warren Chase Stables handler this term.

“Resplendent Grey was behind Haiti Couleurs and obviously that form has turned out very, very well. I think that experience of a handicap would have done him the world of good.

“He goes into the race with no weight on his back, he’s got course form at Sandown and he’s got form over the trip. To be honest, I can’t find many negatives, he’s my big ride on Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it.”

While counting his blessings as the moment he receives the trophy approaches, Bowen is already determined to target a second title next season.

“It’s a crazy amount of work, but I want to win it again, I’m very proud to have won once and as a kid the dream was to be champion,” he said.

“I’m so blessed, everything’s gone so well and from the start of my riding career I couldn’t ever imagine getting here.

“I’m so lucky and I’ve got great support, I’m really looking forward to picking up that trophy on Saturday.

“No one will ever take that away from me now, I want to do it again, but nothing will take away how good this season has been.”

And if being crowned champion jockey is not enough to celebrate, Bowen will be marrying fiancee Harriet Andrews in the summer.

He said: “I am not very good at organising things like that, so I’m leaving it to Harriet!

“We are really looking forward to it and have been together since I was a conditional with Paul Nicholls.”