The last time gun jockey Hugh Bowman was lining up a crack at claiming his one hundredth Group 1 victory was when he beat the travel deadline to get into Queensland to ride the Chris Waller trained Subpoenaed in the Tatts Tiara at Eagle Farm at the end of June in the last Group 1 of the 2020/2021 season.
No sooner had Bowman and other Sydney jockeys involved started settling down after slipping in ahead of the start of the border travel restrictions, then the Queensland Government announced a snap lockdown which effectively pulled the carpet out from under the feet of most of the visiting jockeys scheduled to ride at Eagle Farm.
They were told their participation in the meeting was not going to be allowed and, for intense and purposes, they were supposedly told to head back home. (Some did, some didn’t … but that’s another story).
The Tatts Tiara duly took place on June 26 with Subpoenaed, an $11 chance, finishing in eighth place behind Tofane, who landed the significant Stradbroke / Tatts Tiara double.
Would it have been any different had Bowman been cleared to ride? That is a question that can never be answered.
Either way, that set of circumstances meant that Bowman has had to wait eight weeks for another opportunity to reach that landmark career milestone … and that opportunity arrives on Saturday where Bowman will ride Cascadian in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at Royal Randwick.
Nothing shabby about that ride which will see Bowman riding in the easy to spot royal blue silks of Godolphin, aboard a Group 1 Doncaster winner who has banked just shy of $3 million in prize-money during his twenty-six race career to date.
Perhaps the fact that it is The Winx Stakes is an omen of good fortune to come where Bowman’s name can once again be associated with the name of an old friend.
Should Bowman guide Cascadian to a famous victory the spectre of Covid-19 will still have an influence on the day’s proceedings as there will be no roar of the crowd to acknowledge any victory salute … with only participants and essential personnel allowed at the track.
That won’t faze Bowman at all.
A win is a win is a win … and as far as a one hundredth Group 1 win is concerned … well, that is just a truly special achievement, whenever or wherever that goal is reached.
