One of the mainstays of British racing, Peter Bowen, a man who has been around for many years, has had great success training from his Welsh base in Pembrokeshire. Taking his training license out at the start of 1995, Bowen would saddle his first winner later that year, with Iffee winning, ridden by the then conditional up-and-coming jockey Richard Johnson.
Peter has led the way for the Bowen name to become associated with racing, and all three of his sons have gone on to become jockeys, having plenty of success along the way.
In 2005, a decade after taking out his training license, Bowen would have his first runner in the Grand National. This was Ballycassidy, whom Seamus Durack rode, but the pair didn’t get very far, with the horse unseating his rider at just the second fence. Further struggles would come until 2007 when Bowen went close to landing the big one as McKelvey finished second in the race under Tom O’Brien.
Bowen has gone past the 1000 winner mark in his career, and while the Grand National, and home version of the race, the Welsh Grand National, have so far eluded him, the Scottish Grand National is one of the big races he has been able to land.
Peter Bowen Grand National Wins
Peter Bowen has never trained a horse that has won the Grand National.
Their best finish to date was in 2007 with McKelvey ridden by Tom O’Brien who came 2nd.
Full Results
| Year | Horse | Result | Prize Money | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mac Tottie | Fence 21 - Pulled Up | - | James Bowen |
| 2023 | Francky Du Berlais | 16 | - | Ben Jones |
| 2015 | Al Co | Fence 1 - Unseated Rider | - | Denis O’Regan |
| 2013 | Always Waining | 10 | £975 | Tom O’Brien |
| 2013 | Mumbles Head | Fence 30 - Refused | - | Jamie Moore |
| 2008 | Iron Man | Fence 3 - Unseated Rider | - | Christian Williams |
| 2008 | McKelvey | Fence 20 - Unseated Rider | - | Tom O’Brien |
| 2007 | Ballycassidy | Fence 24 - Unseated Rider | - | Denis O’Regan |
| 2007 | McKelvey | 2 | £149,730 | Tom O’Brien |
| 2006 | Ballycassidy | Fence 25 - Fell | - | Leighton Aspell |
| 2005 | Take The Stand | Fence 15 - Unseated Rider | - | Leighton Aspell |
| 2005 | Ballycassidy | Fence 2 - Unseated Rider | - | Seamus Durack |
Success in the Topham Chase
While the Grand National hasn’t yet resulted in a win for Peter Bowen, another race at Aintree over the bigger obstacles certainly has, and that is the Topham Chase. Always Waining was a brilliant horse trained by Bowen, and while he didn’t have the stamina to run in the Grand National, he loved the big fences and the challenge they bring.
The 2m5f Topham Chase was ideal for him, and not only did he win that race, but he would go on to record three wins in it, all back-to-back. The first of those came in 2010, followed up by winning the 2011 and 2012 renewals of the race.
The Topham is a big handicap, requiring a special type of horse, and Bowen brought the same horse back year after year and landed the race three times in a row.
Coaching His Sons to Become Talented Jockeys
The Bowen name has grown in racing, and a big part of that is down to the three sons of Peter Bowen all becoming jockeys and making a real success of it.
Mickey, aged 21 at the time, would become the youngest rider to win the Foxhunters Chase at Aintree, another race ran over the Grand National fences, completing that feat in 2017. Mickey has also turned his hand to training like his dad and is an amateur trainer in the point-to-point field.
A couple of years earlier, in 2015, Sean Bowen would become the youngest-ever leading conditional jockey, aged just 17, showing his talent at a very young age.
But that didn’t last for long, and it was another Bowen that would take the record from Sean. In 2017, James Bowen would become the youngest leading conditional jockey, aged just 16 at the time, beating his brother’s record.
James was not done there breaking records due to his age because a year later, in 2018, he would also become the youngest ever rider to win the Scottish Grand National, and again he was just 16 at the time of that race.
Of course, during their very early beginnings in the racing world, all three have been supported by their dad, and he’s provided them with plenty of winners along the way while no doubt also providing training support to Mickey.