From hunting field to finish line

In the Spring issue of our membership magazine, My Countryside, we looked to Wales for some racing superstars who learned their craft in the valleys on the hunting field and beyond.  One of our featured jockeys, Sean Bowen - who recently won the Irish Grand National - is due to be crowned champion jockey later this month, and we also highlight the work of the Injured Jockeys Fund.

It has traditionally been Ireland that we look to as being raiders on the National Hunt field. But in recent years, some of the biggest challengers in the field have been both ridden and trained by people from a country somewhat closer to Cheltenham, or even Aintree. Yes, the Welsh have been making waves.

Ben Jones is one name that racing aficionados should know, after he gave Harry Redknapp his first Cheltenham Festival winner aboard the Ben Pauling trained Shakem Up’arry in March 2024. Since being made the trainer’s number one jockey at the beginning of this season, the 24-year-old has won some big races for the trainer, including two Grade One races with The Jukebox Man at Kempton, and Handstands at Sandown.

“When I won on Shakem Up’arry,that was a massive day – I had a good buzz out of that day,” says Ben of his proudest racing achievements so far. “But riding wise, my first Grade One on The Jukebox Man on Boxing Day was a massive day for me. All you want to do is ride big winners on the big stage, and Grade One is the pinnacle of it all. It was absolutely jam packed, and on those big days: the atmosphere and everyone there watching; it’s just special.”

While Ben is getting used to riding famous horses on big days, it didn’t start out that way. His father hunted the Carmarthenshire hounds and was a master while Ben was growing up. His grandfather had also been a huntsman, hunting the Vale of Clettwr in Dyfed.

“I was brought up every Saturday in the hunting field,” explains Ben. “My two sisters, mum and my old man would all be going out hunting on a Saturday morning. It used to be manic getting ready, but that’s what got me through the week really, looking forward to the Saturdays.”

It was this hunting on Saturdays (and, later, pony racing and then pointing on Sundays) that helped make Ben the rider he is today. “Growing up in the hunting field we were never blessed with our parents buying expensive ponies for us. Instead, we would get a two-hundred-pound pony which we had to make do with. I think riding those question mark ponies does make you as a rider. At the end of the season, they’d be very smart hunting ponies which we had probably outgrown! So we would get fresh ones, and start from scratch again. As far as riding goes this definitely brought me forward.”

Nowadays at home in Somerset it’s a similar family affair. He and his wife Laura have a few pointers which she trains, while her sister, Natalie Parker, rides them.

One of those riding against Ben on the pony-racing circuit was Jack Tudor, another Welsh jockey who is making a name for himself after winning the Welsh Grand National on Potter’s Corner as a 7lb claimer in 2019. Now number one rider for trainer David Pipe, he agrees that those early days helped shape his career.

“Pony racing is very big in Wales; when I was young it was really popular,” he explains. “There was a group of us; myself, Ben Jones, Lorcan Williams, Connor Brace, Richard Patrick – but the ones who always had very good ponies were James and Sean Bowen. We had to try so much harder to beat Sean and James, because they were so much ahead of us. I think it brought all of our riding up to a very high standard.”

In a strange way, not much has changed since then. The Bowen brothers – Sean in particular – are still the ones to beat, and Sean Bowen is probably the most famous Welsh jockey on the circuit at the moment.

Since becoming the youngest jockey ever to win the conditional jockey’s title in 2014-15, at the age of 17, the older Bowen brother reached the career milestone of 1,000 winners in February. Sean’s goal now is to become Champion Jockey, after twice being pipped to the title in recent years.

While Jack is David Pipe’s number one jockey, he has long been associated with the trainer Christian Williams, who trained both Potter’s Corner and Kitty’s Light, who finished fifth under Tudor in last year’s Grand National, making him the first British-trained runner home in that year’s race.

Williams’s brother, Nick, pictured above, is his assistant trainer, working with and breaking in the young horses. However, after a serious injury riding out last year, he is also retraining as an equine dentist. Both brothers were jockeys, with Nick winning the Welsh Point-to-Point Championship in 2011, while Christian turned professional.

“Christian had a lot of injuries, but I was lucky: I didn’t break a single bone until I got kicked a year ago and broke my leg,” explains Nick. It was, as hedescribes it, “a proper job, with the bone sticking out.”

With the help of the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) he was able to both get back on board, and to retrain in another career. “The IJF put me through all the courses and covered my funding”, says Nick. “They were brilliant really, and I went to Oaksey House in Lambourn as much as I could for rehab and physio.”

The same story applies for Jack Tudor, who broke both his tibia and fibula when point-to-pointing. “The Injured Jockeys Fund were a massive support with rehab and getting me back able to ride,” says Jack. “I have also broken my shoulder a couple of times, and every time I went up to Oaksey House where they put you through your paces, get your fitness back and put you in touch with the right people.” The IJF have cottages on site so patients who are unable to travel back and forth are able to stay on site.

Ben Jones has also had help from the IJF in the past. “I dislocated my collarbone on the last day before the racing break,” he explains. “We had two and a half weeks off, and I was back riding on the first day back thanks to help from the IJF. We’ve got a little fitness hub down in Taunton now, and they’re so quick – they got me in for scans before you could pick your nose!”

Thanks to the help of the IJF Nick Williams is now back helping his brother, breaking in young horses, and with a burgeoning new career on the side. With 35-40 in training, the brothers form an important part of Wales’s bid to play their part on the National Hunt scene.

“There’s a big opportunity if you’re a young person looking to get into racing in Wales now,” explains Jack Tudor. “Seven or eight years ago, you would have looked towards England for the big yards, but now you’ve got the likes of Christian, Peter Bowen, Tim Vaughan and Sam Thomas all in Wales, so you don’t have to look far.”

And as for Ben Jones? “Everyone looks after each other in Welsh racing. To be honest, I wouldn’t have wanted to be brought up anywhere different.”