Since departing Dunedoo with a dream of making it as a jockey, Hugh Bowman has never experienced a year like he has in 2017.
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He made headlines on a daily basis for his exploits with champion mare Winx but on Sunday it was on Japanese stayer Cheval Grand where he cemented his status as a true great.
Bowman took out the Japan Cup with Cheval Grand to make it 16 Group 1 wins for the year.
The victory also secured Bowman the title of World's Best Jockey after he won 10 of the top 100 races in the world in three different countries. While Winx supplied six of Bowman's wins in the series, he also won Group 1s in Hong Kong on Werther, twice, and Lucky Bubbles.
Prior to this year, only Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore had previously finished on top of the Longines World’s Best Jockey rankings.
"It has been a highlight season. This has been my most amazing year since I started riding, 20 years ago," Bowman said.
It has been a highlight season. This has been my most amazing year since I started riding, 20 years ago.
- Hugh Bowman
"Obviously my association with Winx [has been a highlight]. She is a world famous racehorse. She is the best horse on turf in the world.”
The champion Australian jockey, who is riding on a short-term contract in Japan until Christmas, sat three back on the fence in Tokyo on Sunday before pulling Cheval Grand to the centre of the track in the straight to gun down favourite Kitasan Black in the final 200m.
Cheval Grand had never won a Group 1 race before and held off the late challenge of Japanese Derby winner Rey de Oro to win, with Kitasan Black holding on for third. Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time finished in a dead heat for 12th.
When talking about the success, Bowman showed the humility he had when he left the farm at home more than two decades ago.
"It's a great honour, but the reality is being a jockey is not like being a golfer or a tennis player," Bowman said
"I don't really feel that [I'm the best jockey in the world]. If you take the top five or 10 per cent of jockeys from around the world, I personally don't think one is much better than the other.
"It's more circumstantial in obviously the horses you are riding, the conditions you are riding in.
"I take great pride in the fact I've been able to achieve success in different parts of the world but I don't see that it makes me a better jockey than the people I'm riding against."
However, Bowman has made the most of his chances overseas while he also gave credit to wife Christine and their girls, Bambi and Paige, at home.
"I just have better opportunities. I'm very thankful to my family for their ongoing support and the sacrifices they make to allow me to pursue my dream to be a jockey," he said.
"Realistically, I don't see myself as better than the people I'm riding against, [I] just [have] better opportunities and I'm very thankful for it."
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
