From a farming background, Colin Bowe is an up-and-coming racehorse trainer based near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. He is particularly well-known on the Point-to-Point circuit, being a three-time National Handlers’ Point-to-Point champion.
The 41-year-old set up Colin Bowe Racing Ltd in the townland of Kiltealy after learning his trade with both Jim Bolger and Aidan O’Brien. His uncle Jay Bowe is owner of the nearby Kiltealy Stud, which has produced many great thoroughbred stallions, including Sky Boy, Taldi and Porter Rhodes. Anamatic and Twinkle Bee have also brought Jay success in the eventing spheres.
Colin started breaking in half-bred horses before moving onto pre-training horses for the racecourse. From there, the natural progression was to begin training point-to-pointers. He won National Handlers’ Point-to-Point Championships in 2009-‘10 and 2011-‘12, and currently shares the title with his neighbour, Donnchadh Doyle. Colin drew level with Donnchadh on 28 wins each for the 2014-’15 season after Theatre Mole was first home in the mares’ maiden race in Kinsale last May.
“It’s bizarre to think that the two of us are from the same parish, but point-to-point has always been strong in this part of the country,” notes Colin, who has 50 horses in training and had already six winners in the current Point-to-Point season when we spoke in November.
“About 90 per cent of the horses I train are point-to-pointers. You could say I’m in the business of buying and selling. It’s always difficult to hold onto your best stock. That’s why it’s so important to have new and quality stock coming through to replace them.”
One horse he has succeeded in holding on to and is making quite a name for himself is Shantou Flyer. Owned by Sean O’Neill, the five-year-old gelding has been very successful since switching to fences, winning the Grade 2 Florida Pearl Novice Chase at Punchestown in November. This was the fourth win from five starts over the bigger obstacles for him. Colin has identified the marathon National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival as the primary long-term target for his star performer.
Colin has put a number of smart horses through his hands, most notably the Grade 1-class chaser Snowy Morning, which had 10 wins on the track, the Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Shinrock Paddy and Western Warhouse, who was a 33-1 winner of the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham in 2014 for David Pipe. Indeed, the former was his first winner between the flags when triumphing at Clonmel in May 2005.
Colin saddled his first runner on the racecourse at Fairyhouse in February 2010 when Jan Jandura finished sixth in a bumper. His first winner came two months later when Model County Lass prevailed in a bumper at Tramore. He doubled his tally a little over a month later by sending out Lively Lass to win a bumper at Wexford.
The affable trainer, who by then had acquired his full training licence, went on to enjoy great success with the unbeaten point-to-pointer, Askanna – the John Aspel-owned mare won six races in-a-row in 2010.
“She was the first horse I had a run of wins with on the track,” he fondly recalls.
“Little King Robin, Our Victoria and Glibbin were three other good mares I’ve had. Shantou Flyer was the first gelding to win for me. We’re hoping to send him to Cheltenham in a couple of months’ time and have high hopes for him going forward.”
As well as having 50 stables in Kiltealy, which is roughly the same distance from Enniscorthy as it is from Bunclody, Colin has a five-furlong uphill gallop (located on his father Philip’s land), two horse walkers, a schooling strip and a lunging area. The stables’ paddocks afford horses a well-deserved break from their training routines. Friendly and dedicated staff provide a personal service for the horses.
Colin Bowe Racing Ltd’s headman is Brendan Walsh who is ably assisted by Matthew Byrne, Diarmuid ‘Charlie’ Swan and Craig Casey, who rides out the horses. The stables jockeys are Barry O’Neill and Rob James, while John Doyle also dons the stable’s blue and white colours from time to time. Professional jockeys Michael Fogarty, Mark Walsh, Davy Russell and Sean Flanagan have all ridden for Colin on the track.
Bowe has between 25 and 30 owners on his books. He owns about half of the young stock himself and jointly owns some of the other horses.
“If you bought 10 horses and four of them were good, you’d get by,” he says.
“I’m quite happy with the amount of stock I have at the moment. Fifty is a nice number. I enjoy a very good relationship with the owners, many of who are from the local farming community and have been with me from the start. The vast majority of owners nowadays are middle-aged people with no mortgages. It’s an expensive hobby, unfortunately.”
Colin and his wife Fiona have three children – Katie (10), Aimee (five) and Bobby (three). Katie has inherited her father’s passion for horses and has competed in local shows with her pony Kipper.
Colin Bowe Racing Ltd
Kiltealy,
Enniscorthy,
Co. Wexford.
Telephone: 053 9255607
Mobile: 087 6332567
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 1, January 2016
