'I’ll give it a fair old stab this year' - Sean Dylan Bowen eyes apprentice title after impressive start

Sean Dylan Bowen has outlined his aspirations to become champion apprentice after a strong start to the season was helped by a career-best number of winners last month.

Bowen, 18, registered nine winners in June – an impressive improvement from the six he scored in May – and took his overall tally to 15 in the early battle to become top apprentice this year. 

Although the championship runs until October, he sits level with Jack Doughty and behind only Mark Winn in the standings, and a tilt at the title is very much under consideration. 

"I'll take it day by day to see how we're going," Bowen said. "I won't be worrying about it too much yet, but I'll give it a fair old stab this year. 

"I'm only two winners away from losing my 5lb claim. It happened so fast I didn't realise how many winners I've had, but it's definitely not a bad thing."

British champion apprentice current standings

17 Mark Winn
15 Sean D Bowen
15 Jack Doughty
9 William Pyle and Adam Farragher
8 Pierre-Louis Jamin

The Tipperary-born rider made the switch from Ireland earlier this year and his decision to move to Britain appears to have paid off.

He said: "It's a lot harder at home if you're not in with the big yards. Trying to get outside rides is really hard and the lack of racing is tough too. There's really only one meeting most days or every second day, so I thought there'd be more opportunities over here with a number of different meetings every day.

"I've made a good start. I got up and running fairly quickly when I moved over here and that's down to the support I had from the owners and trainers for using me. My agent Simon Dodds has been a big help for me getting a career here."

Sean Dylan Bowen: scored with Soldiers Design (left) on his first visit to Brighton in AprilCredit: Mike Hewitt (Getty Images)

The apprentice has struck up a healthy relationship with Newmarket trainer James Owen, with the pair operating at a 25 per cent strike-rate with seven winners from 28 rides.

Bowen said: "The yard is in good form and he's probably the most up-and-coming trainer in Newmarket and he's getting bigger every week."

He also took advantage of his first ride for William Haggas as he steered Elnajmm to success on the all-weather at Newcastle last week.

He added: "The horse just got in the handicap off bottomweight and William will have been looking to claim off him to give him every chance. There's not many of us in the weighing room that can claim off bottomweight, so I was lucky enough to get on him."

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