Hugh Bowman is officially the World’s Best Jockey after he capped a remarkable year with a brilliant ride to win the Japan Cup on Cheval Grand in Tokyo on Sunday.
Hugh Bowman – (photo: HKJC)
The champion Australian jockey, who is riding on a short-term contract in Japan until Christmas, sat three back on the fence before pulling Cheval Grand to the centre of the track in the straight to gun down favourite Kitasan Black in the final 200m.
A son of Sunday Silence, Cheval Grand is owned by former major league baseball player Kazuhiro Sasaki, who was a relief pitcher with the Seattle Mariners and the Yokohama BayStars.
Cheval Grand had never won a Gr1 before and held off the late challenge of Japanese Derby winner Rey de Oro to win, with Kitasan Black holding on for third. Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time finished in a dead heat for 12th.
The win was Bowman’s 16th Gr1 victory in 2017 from 47 rides, to go with his fourth Sydney jockeys’ premiership and his great association with Winx, which delivered six Gr1’s wins for the year, including a third Cox Plate.
“It has been a highlight season. This has been my most amazing year since I started riding, 20 years ago,” Bowman said. “Obviously my association with Winx [has been a highlight]. She is a world famous racehorse. She is the best horse on turf in the world.
The win secured Bowman the title of World’s Best Jockey after he won 10 of the top 100 races in the world in three different countries. While Winx supplied six of Bowman’s wins in the series, he also won Gr1’s in Hong Kong on Werther, twice, and Lucky Bubbles.
