The race for the 2025 British National Hunt Trainers’ Championship is on a knife edge as we approach the seasonal finale at Sandown. Will Willie Mullins do it again? Or can Dan Skelton fend off the Irish powerhouse? All will be revealed at the Esher track on Saturday afternoon.
Whilst we await the identity of the leading trainer for 2024/25, we have known the name of the Champion Jumps Jockey for a little while now. Whilst he will only “officially” receive his title as part of the Finale Day celebrations, Sean Bowen has led his rivals a merry dance for much of the season, building a lead which, barring something extremely unusual, has long fallen into the unassailable category.
Promising Beginnings and a Frustrating 2023/24
As a son of trainer Peter and a brother to fellow rider James, Welshman Sean Bowen hails from solid racing stock and has long appeared destined for greatness. An award-winning Point-to-Point rider with two prestigious Lester Awards to his name, Bowen claimed the Champion Conditional Jockey title in 2015.
AP McCoy, Richard Johnson, Brian Hughes, and Harry Cobden had all progressed from a Conditional Jockeys’ Title to claim the Champion Jumps Jockey crown. Bowen appeared set to follow suit in 2023/24. Well clear at the head of the table moving into the festive period, Bowen cruelly suffered an injury on Boxing Day, which ruled him out for the following two months of the season. By the time he returned to the saddle, Harry Cobden was away and gone at the head of the table, forcing Bowen to settle for a frustrating second-place finish.
It has always been a dream to lift this and now it’s a reality 🏆
A big thank you to all the owners and trainers that have supported me along the way and made it possible for me to be Champion Jockey 🐎 pic.twitter.com/bhCGuwg7Xa
— Harry Cobden (@CobdenHarry) April 27, 2024
No doubt, the misfortune of the previous campaign only fuelled Bowen’s desire to claim the title for the first time. In 2024/25, he made no mistake.
Consistency Too Hot to Handle
Whilst National Hunt racing is the winter arm of the sport, the race for the Champion Jockeys’ Title is an almost year-round endeavour. The 2024/25 season officially began on Saturday, 4th May 2024 and ends on Saturday, 26th April 2025 – barely a week off for the riders before they set off to do it all again.
Unlike the prize money-determined Trainers’ Championship, the Jockeys’ Championship keeps things nice and simple – the rider with the most wins at the end of the season claims the prize.
With defending champion Harry Cobden suffering his own injury woes, the first half of the 2024/25 campaign suggested we could be in for a tight battle between Bowen and 2020/21 champ Harry Skelton. However, Bowen moved into overdrive once the core season began in October.
To Skelton’s credit, he clung onto Bowen’s coattails until the turn of the year. That challenge faltered with single-figure tallies for January, February, and March, which were no match for Bowen’s 47-win haul over the first three months of 2025. Ahead by 31 wins with only a month of the campaign remaining, Bowen was all but home and hosed.
With April failing to dish out any unexpected fireworks from the Skelton camp, Bowen has nudged further clear to lead the race by 175 to 141, with only the dying embers of the season remaining: a cosy victory in the end and a fine testament to Bowen’s determination following the events of 2023/24.
Big Names Pay Tribute
In supplying Bowen with 99 of those 175 winners, Olly Murphy has had a bigger hand than most in the success. The Warwickshire handler was among the first to pay tribute when stating:
“I’m very proud of everything he’s done and really looking forward to Sandown on Saturday. Bar his parents, there won’t be anyone prouder than me watching him collect his first championship.”
Eight-time Champion Jump Jockey Peter Scudamore also voiced his support for the soon-to-be-crowned champ, saying:
“Sean’s an exceptional talent, and I have nothing but admiration for him.”
Whilst four-time winner Richard Johnson suggested this success may be the first of many:
“I’d be surprised if he didn’t follow up next year and he has youth on his side so there’s every reason to think he’ll win again after that – he was unlucky not to win last year, really.”
