James Hugh Bowman is an Australian thoroughbred racing jockey. Based in Sydney, Bowman has won the New South Wales Metropolitan Jockey Premiership four times and has ridden 100 Group 1 winners. He was the jockey for Australian champion mare Winx from 2014 through to her retirement in 2019. In 2017, Bowman won the Longines World’s Best Jockey award presented by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The award capped off a year in which he added to his domestic success with international Group 1 wins in Hong Kong and Japan. In 2019, he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest accolade. Bowman is also renowned for his “She’s Apples” winning salute and his nickname of “the Undisputed Group 1 King”.
Bowman's trademark "She's Apples" celebration after winning the 2017 Japan Cup aboard Cheval Grand
Bowman riding Werther to a second place finish in the Takarazuka Kinen behind Mikki Rocket at Hanshin Racecourse
Bowman and Cheval Grand win the 2017 Japan Cup
Hugh Bowman in Japan (2015)
Winx is a retired champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse. She won 37 of 43 career starts, including, between May 2015 and her retirement in April 2019, her last 33 races in succession, including 25 Group 1s, at distances ranging from 1300 metres to 2200 metres. In the World's Best Racehorse Rankings, she was the second-ranked filly or mare in 2015, improving in 2016 to become both the world's top-ranked filly or mare and the world's top-ranked turf horse. She retained this ranking in 2017 and in 2018 was co-ranked as the best horse in the world. In 2017 she was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, only the third horse to earn this honour while still in training. Over her career, she earned more than 26 million Australian dollars.
Winx (horse)