Hugh Bowman has ridden more than half the Warwick Farm card to catapult to the lead in a see-sawing battle for the Sydney jockeys’ premiership.
Chris Waller provided two of Bowman’s winners, two-year-old Wudang Mountain and French mare Defrost My Heart.
His others came on the Joe Pride-trained Kanji and Lord Leofric for David Pfieffer, giving Bowman wins in four of the seven races.
“I thought I could ride seven until I got here and had a scratching in race three,” Bowman said.
“I came here today with a nice book but you need horses who can cope on the (heavy) ground.
“I had horses who had been racing well and they’ve come here and won.”
Three of Bowman’s winners came at the expense of title rival James McDonald.
In a frustrating afternoon for the Godolphin jockey, McDonald had four rides and finished runner-up on three of them.
All of his second placings were behind Bowman winners, including Orujo who was mowed down by a neck in the Cal Rei Handicap won by Lord Leofric.
“As soon as I saw the colours I knew who it was,” McDonald said.
“On any other day, it would be a good day.”
McDonald started the meeting with a one-win lead over Blake Shinn and a two-and-a-half win buffer over Bowman.
By the end of the meeting the ladder had been inverted with Bowman’s four-time taking his season tally of wins to 92, 1-1/2 ahead of Shinn and McDonald who are tied in second.
Shinn kept his premiership hopes alive with a victory on the Pride-trained Painte in the Cellarbrations Handicap.
Bowman has won the Sydney jockeys’ premiership twice, most recently in 2011-12, but he maintains his focus is on making every ride count and not on the end result.
“It is a good battle but to be honest, I’m not focused on it. That’s not how I am,” Bowman said.
“I’m focused on what I’m riding and on getting the best out of them.”
Bowman started Wednesday’s meeting as a $3.50 chance to win the jockeys’ title and ended it as a $2.30 favourite to claim it for a third time.
