'I've fulfilled a childhood dream'
Bowen missed out on last year's title after suffering a knee injury on Boxing Day when leading the Championship."I wasn't going to let it happen twice, I couldn't let the Championship slip again," he said."It was just a matter of starting this season off as fast as we possibly could and I managed to build up a good lead in the summer. Harry Skelton was fighting through Christmas but I built that lead back up again."The travelling is crazy. My car will have clocked up 75,000 miles in the season. I very rarely get to go home much so, it's difficult, but it is all well worth it when you're crowned Champion Jockey."It's hard work mentally and physically, I've kept the body in good shape this season. Mentally, it can be hard work, never having a day off, and just keeping going every day."I can't stand seeing somebody else win on a horse that I should have been on, that's why I'll travel up and down the country in one day for a ride if I have to."
Family support
Sean's parents, Peter and Karen Bowen, have been training racehorses since he was a child."Mum and dad from day one have given me wonderful support," he explained."You see how hard they work. They live down in Pembrokeshire, and they would drive all the way to Ayr or Perth just for us to win a pony race."So if you see that, if you see them doing that for you, then I suppose that's probably what's given us the drive in us to want to do more, and don't mind getting in the car and driving wherever you need to go."My partner Harriet puts up with a lot, because I see her very rarely, we're getting married in July and then we have our honeymoon, we're really looking forward to that break together."
The perfect final week
The Welshman has finished the season in fine style, starting with a five-timer at his home track, Ffos Las."It was actually my first ever five-timer. I've managed a few four-timers, but never a five-timer. It was a magic day - it was in front of family and the Welsh crowd who were brilliant, that was a day I'll never forget," he added.The Welshman followed up that success with an Irish Grand National victory aboard the Rebecca Curtis-trained Haiti Couleurs."It's the biggest win of my career, to go over there and beat the Irish was obviously brilliant, and to do it for Rebecca, who's a Welsh trainer, was so good, it was an incredible day," said Bowen.
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