Harry Cobden and Sean Bowen have the point-to-point scene to thank for their ongoing jockeys' championship battle

With three weeks of the jumps season remaining, it is all but certain the new champion jockey will also be the first former novice point-to-point title-holder.

Harry Cobden and Sean Bowen launched themselves into professional careers after one season of riding in point-to-points, but they were nothing if not busy during that informative and educational period. 

Bearing in mind that most novices are content with a handful of rides in their debut year, Bowen, aged 16 at the time, weighed out 42 times in the 2013-14 season, rode ten winners and landed the novice men’s title and the Wilkinson Sword award given to riders under 21. 

He unseated on his first ride when driving his uncle Willie Bryan’s Natural Action into the third-last fence at Barbury – clearly no nerves, and in fairness the horse all but laid down – and rode his debut winner on his fifth spin.

Sean Bowen: won the novice point-to-point title during the 2013-14 season

Incidentally, those figures pale beside those of his brother James, who in the 2016-17 season rode in 55 point-to-points and came first in a record 30 – yet he did not turn 16 until the March and so missed half the season. The brothers were helped by being entrenched in racing, and with parents Peter and Karen having backgrounds in point-to-pointing.

Cobden did not have a family association with the sport, but he excelled at pony racing and gained support from acquaintances made in that sphere and on hunting fields in Dorset. One suspects Paul Nicholls was tipped off about his talent before Cobden realised he possessed it. Starting one year after Sean Bowen – and in the same novice riders’ race at Barbury – Cobden pulled up when riding El Mondo for Rachael Honeyball, but won on his third start and went on to notch 13 winners from 32 rides.

He and Bowen can attribute part of their novice title success to one horse, Cock Of The Rock, who as a nine-year-old when trained by David Brace provided Sean with four winners before joining Honeyball’s yard the following season and scoring seven times under Cobden.

Cobden’s first ride in a hunter chase resulted in a 33-1 win on El Mondo for Honeyball, but in 2021, when Covid-19 restrictions prevented amateurs from riding under rules, he added seven more victories in that sphere. As a novice, Sean Bowen had a couple of hunter chase rides without success, but gained a belated single win in 2021.

Whoever steps up to take the trophy at Sandown on April 27, they will not be the first former point-to-point rider to do so. Richard Dunwoody and Richard Johnson, to name but two, looked ready for the professional game during their brief association with the sport, though they missed out on national titles.

Since then, novice riders' races have become common at point-to-points, providing young or new riders with additional opportunities – and goals.

Weekend preview

Through the gloom of this wettest season, some gallows humour was produced earlier this week by the PR team at Parham in Sussex.

Under a photo of a water bowser spraying the course, their social media post read: ‘Watering has commenced ahead of the meeting on April 20.’ Well, it was April 1.

A weekend does not pass without meetings being called off due to challenges preparing courses and ensuring easy access for emergency vehicles, and the loss of Sunday’s Grimthorpe Gold Cup meeting at Sheriff Hutton is a blow to fans of the sport, particularly in Yorkshire.  

There are more optimistic messages from Kingston Blount where Alan Hill applied a light roller behind a quad bike to the running line on Thursday morning. Hill is looking forward to running Carryonaway in the restricted race, for while the grey won at Larkhill rider Izzie Marshall reckons a left-handed track will reap an improvement. Dean Summersby’s choice of Jet Smart or Russian Invasion, and Phil Rowley’s Subtle Fortune who handled very soft ground at Bangor, are obvious dangers.

I’m Spellbound can regain the winning thread in the mixed open following a luckless final-fence fall at Larkhill, while game mare For Rita has struck up a fine association with Shropshire’s Abi Henry and they can take the novice riders’ race.

James King, who leads the men’s championship with 35 winners, nine ahead of reigning champion Will Biddick, is hopeful Chilfrome goes ahead for he is keen on the Luke Price-trained Hogan in the maiden race.

Saturday

Bitterley, Shropshire – postponed, new date tbc

Sunday

Chilfrome, Dorset DT2 0HA – 2.00. 6 races, 75 entries

Kingston Blount, Oxon OX39 4SG – 1.00. 6 races, 64 entries

Sheriff Hutton, Yorkshire – postponed, new date tbc

Dunsmore, Devon – abandoned

More information at pointtopoint.co.uk & gopointing.com

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