By Jonathan Powell
Life as a racehorse trainer would have been a lot easier for Peter Bowen if he didn’t live a short hack from the coast on the western edge of Pembrokeshire.
Standing at the top of his steep all-weather gallop that has delivered a conveyor belt of winners down the years you can catch a glimpse of Ireland on a clear day.
Travelling long distances in his horsebox from his modern yard on the edge of Letterston to far-flung racecourses has long been second nature to softly- spoken Bowen and his wife Karen.
Ffos Las is now his nearest track, but to have runners anywhere else involves a stamina-sapping journey that would deter all but the most committed of trainers.
Trips to Kelso, Sedgefield or Perth can take 12 hours each way. Just imagine how he must feel after a bad afternoon in the North when he finally steers his trusty horsebox into the yard in the middle of the night.
Bed surely beckons but first there are horses to be checked and fed and soon, much too soon, maybe in a couple of hours, a new day will dawn and all the horses need to be fed and mucked out.
A journey to Ayr usually takes 12 hours while closer to home it is all of 120 miles to Chepstow and a little further to Hereford.
From time to time Bowen and his wife Karen have considered moving to a more suitable location somewhere east of the River Severn but although they have looked at a number of properties they are clearly reluctant to leave the little village where they have created a remarkable racing dynasty.
“Travelling is the biggest draw back for us,” concedes Bowen, “but everything else works so well and everyone around here is so laid back.
“I’ve lived here all my life, my parents ran the local post office, and all my friends are here. I doubt we’ll ever move now because this is such a great place to train, so healthy for the horses and that is so important. They thrive here.
“We have talked about moving but what we have we own and how are you going to find somewhere else which will match what we’ve got here at the same price? That is the problem,” he explains.
Although Peter and Karen Bowen continue to enjoy plenty of success with their horses they are hugely proud to acknowledge their new status as parents of two of the finest young jump jockeys to emerge in many a year.
Sean Bowen, 20, short, compact, fearless and naturally gifted quickly made his name as a conditional with Paul Nicholls and is increasingly in demand.
But it is his 16-year-old brother James who is cornering all headlines at the moment. He started in point-to-points early last year on his sixteenth birthday, March 12, with the impact of a hurricane, and by the end of the season had set a record number of 30 winners for a novice rider from about 50 rides.
Late last summer he switched seamlessly into his new role as a conditional with Nicky Henderson and, barring ill fortune, looks guaranteed to go right to the top.
To be at Chepstow for the Welsh Grand National early in January was to witness a precocious sporting talent laying down a notable marker as James gained his most important success so far in the great old race on the Irish trained Raz De Maree, who, so help me, at 13, was only three years younger than his jockey.
Afterwards Peter and Karen Bowen were at the centre of chaos in the winner’s enclosure as they were besieged from all sides by well-wishers eager to pass on their congratulations.
While it is worrying that people are getting carried away as they make comparisons between the fledgling young jockey and the peerless AP McCoy, it is undeniable that at this ridiculously early stage of his career James Bowen already has many of the skills required to be a champion jockey.
