08-07-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hugh Bowman eyes best Hong Kong season before a freshen up, and maybe some rides, in Europe
A 'delighted' Hugh Bowman is itching to head off to Europe for a break and maybe even a few race rides, but first he's keen to better his Hong Kong personal best of 69 wins in a season.
The star Australian sits on 68 victories with three meetings to go in the 2024-25 campaign and he has six chances to add to his tally at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
'I'm delighted – it's been a pretty consistent year for me,' said the jockey. 'It's been a good, consistent flow of winners with the exception of being a little bit quiet through the November-December period and a little bit quiet through June.
'It's been an improvement on last year, but bearing in mind that last year I was injured for a period of time and I did struggle with careless riding suspensions. I've had a few this year but it hasn't been quite to the same extent as last year.
'That's an area I'd like to improve on again next season. I set a goal to ride 100 winners. I think that might have been a little bit ambitious, actually – I won't do that again – but I do think I can do better than I've done this year.'
Bowman rates Enjoy Golf in the first section of the Class Four Garden Handicap (1,200m) and Prince Alex in the Class Four Green Handicap (1,650m) among his better hopes at the midweek meeting.
Enjoy Golf makes all for an impressive first win as @HugeBowman collects a race-to-race double at Sha Tin... ✌️ #HKracing — HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) June 8, 2024
'Enjoy Golf has been a good horse to me although he's only won one race. I think I've had four seconds on him, which is always a bit concerning,' said Bowman.
'But his only go at Happy Valley was at 1,650m, which is too far, so he's an interesting runner and he's got to be a chance. And Prince Alex freshened up, a long time between runs from gate one – they're probably the chances, those two.'
While Bowman is counting down the days until his flight out of Hong Kong, he admits he'll likely get itchy feet at some stage during the off-season and potentially look to do some riding while travelling.
'I can't wait to get away. It's been a long year for everyone but in saying that, I feel like I'm finishing the year full of enthusiasm,' he said.
'For me, two months [off] is a bit too long, but it is what it is. We'll have a break, freshen up and come back and hit the ground running. If the opportunity arises, I'll look to ride in Europe, whether in the UK or possibly France.'
