Hugh’s rarefied air
ONLY now, as Hugh Bowman is on the verge of soaring into racing’s exclusive 100 Group 1 club, can he fully appreciate the sheer jaw-dropping greatness of Winx.
Bowman is on the brink of joining greats George Moore, Damien Oliver and Jim Cassidy as the only jockeys to ride 100 or more Group 1 winners.
Bowman, the boy from country Dunedoo who has become one of the greatest hoops
the country has seen, can achieve the astonishing feat on Saturday at Eagle Farm when he rides two-year-old colt Port
Louis in the JJ Atkins.
Whenever Bowman notches his 100th Group 1 winner, Winx will have accounted for a quarter of that mighty haul as the duo combined for 25 Group 1 wins.
As he prepares to soar into rarefied air with 100 Group 1 wins, Bowman says he now fully appreciates Winx’s true greatness.
“What is a reality to me is just how good Winx was because I am now riding some of the best horses around, they win their races but they can’t sustain anything like the consistency that she did,” Bowman said.
“There’s a lot to it, it’s extraordinary really upon reflection. I guess I didn’t think about it as much at the time I was riding Winx as what I do now. Winx never had anything wrong with her and I didn’t have anything wrong with me in that period.
“One thing I know is that horseracing goes in waves and after five years of riding Winx,
I guess I feel in some ways like I came back to the pack a little bit after she retired.
“You can only ride the horses you are riding, I’ve had a lot of close seconds this season in Group 1s.
“I feel like I’m in a good place at the moment, I feel like I’m riding really well and horses are running well for me.”
Bowman’s latest historic moment came when he gave Ed Cummings his first Group 1 when winning the Queensland Oaks on Duais last Saturday.