Sean D Bowen

His most regular partnership is with trainer James Owen, but the numbers there are sobering — 3 wins from 87 rides together amounts to roughly 1 in every 29 races. That's a lot of faith being placed in a combination that hasn't fired consistently, and it suggests either Owen's horses haven't been at their best or the partnership simply hasn't clicked the way both sides would hope.

Where Bowen does show genuine promise is in the specifics. At Bath, he's turned 11 rides into 3 winners — roughly 1 in every 4 races — which is a markedly better return than his overall numbers suggest he's capable of. Tracks suit different riders for all kinds of reasons: the shape of the course, the style of racing it encourages, the types of horses that tend to run there. Whatever it is about Bath, Bowen clearly has a feel for it. Similarly, on fast, dry ground he has won 1 from just 5 races — a 20% win rate — a small sample but an intriguing one, hinting that conditions might bring out something extra in his riding.

At 27 career winners in the last twelve months and 133 overall, Bowen is a jockey still very much in the building phase. The drop in form this season means he's at something of a crossroads — the kind of moment where a jockey either finds a way back to their best or settles into a lower gear. The Bath record and his affinity for dry ground give reasons to stay interested. The wider numbers give reasons to stay cautious.