The rise and rise of Sean Bowen

Mitchell Jones on Sean Bowen and golden generation of Welsh jockeys

By MIchell Jones

Horse Racing

Fri April 18, 2025 · 8M ago

Mitchell Jones looks at the rise of Sean Bowen and a golden generation of Welsh jockeys.

"We’d ride the ponies up the gallop after school to get them fit for the weekend, feed them, and then run up the gallop ourselves!’"

Sean and James Bowen were hungry for greatness long before they turned professional. The seeds of their success can be traced back to a Welsh pony racing scene that has yielded a golden generation of Welsh Jockeys.

As the curtain draws on this year’s campaign, four young Welsh riders sit in the top ten of the Jockeys Championship, leader Sean Bowen (27), brother James (24), Ben Jones (25) and Jack Tudor (22) ,four jockeys moulded on the pony racing and Point-to-Point fields of Trecoed and Lynstep.

And the opposition they faced was fierce, competing in the same races were the likes of fellow Welshmen Richard Patrick, Connor Brace and this season’s Champion Hurdle winning rider Lorcan Williams.

The jockeys sensed they were part of something special, a hotbed of competition that would be a springboard for professional success. Jones, a two-time Grade One winner this season, quickly realised the cauldron he’d entered.

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"I finished last on my first three or four rides on a fat, little grey pony. I knew I had to get better ponies and to develop my mentality and riding ability also learned that if you committed for home too soon the Bowens could make you look silly!"

Tudor, who has himself enjoyed a breakthrough season this year, echoed those sentiments.

"Sean and James set the standard, you had to improve otherwise you’d be left behind!"

Not only did they spur on their competitors, but each other. After a day’s pony racing, the boys could be found watching replays to see who looked the most stylish, modelling themselves on their riding heroes, A.P McCoy, Richard Johnson and Brian Hughes.

In another era, the Bowens may have dominated Welsh pony racing but Jones, Tudor et al. met the challenge head on and what developed was a standard of riding that bore many of the hallmarks of the professional game.

This wasn’t your typical ‘go as fast as you can’ pony racing.

Jones recalls: "Race tactics were crucial, if someone had a better pony, you had to outride them."

It’s clear that four Welsh Jockeys cementing their place in the upper echelons of a profession long dominated by the English and Irish, has not come about by chance.

As young riders they were embroiled in a skills arms race long before they became household names in the sport. While the war isn’t over yet (James still strives to better than his brother ‘every day’ while Jones quipped that he is still ‘gunning’ for Sean all these years later), the battle has been won by Sean Bowen, who is set to become the first Welsh Champion Jockey for over 50 years.

Sean Bowen got a nice trophy for his efforts on Booster Bob

Sean Bowen - season to remember

Just as he did as a young pony rider, Sean again sets the standard, and next Saturday he’ll fulfil his childhood dream when crowned amongst family and friends at Sandown.

He’s not the man you’d want to buy a second-hand car from, he’s covered over 75,000 miles this season, having nigh on 900 rides, all to ensure that the heartbreak of last year’s near miss didn’t repeat itself.

And his biggest challenge is yet to come; a stag do in Tenerife the day after the season ends, with organiser and best man James by his side. That’s some way to cap a historic season!

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