Based in Sydney,[1] Bowman has won the New South Wales Metropolitan Jockey Premiership four times (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014/15, 2016/17)[2] and has ridden 100 Group 1 winners.

[5] The award capped off a year in which he added to his domestic success with international Group 1 wins in Hong Kong and Japan.

[10] Growing up on cattle and sheep properties, Bowman has stated that horses were always an integral part of the working farm and a connection with them was formed early in his life.

[17][18] On 3 April 1996, Bowman had his first official ride as an amateur jockey at the Mungery Picnic Races in Narromine, NSW aboard Go Campese.

[21] In 1999, Bowman moved to Sydney for the final two years of his apprenticeship under the tutelage of jockey-turned-trainer Ron Quinton, who also hailed from Dunedoo.

Two starts later, on 4 October, Bowman would ride Winx to a second-place finish in the Group 1 Flight Stakes at Royal Randwick behind First Seal.

[35][36] Bowman did not ride Winx again until her twelfth career start during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival – a victory in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks at Doomben Racecourse on 30 May.

Starting as the $4.60 favourite, Winx and Bowman went on to win the race by 4&¾ lengths from Criterion and Irish galloper Highland Reel.

After a 20-week spell, Winx returned in the spring on 20 August, with Bowman steering her to victory in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes at Royal Randwick.

[39][40] Bowman and Winx started off their 2017 autumn campaign in the exact same fashion as 2016 with a win in the Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick on 13 February.

While Winx and Bowman’s lead-up had been identical to the autumn of 2016, their end goal had shifted to the $4 million-dollar Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Three weeks later, on 28 October, Bowman piloted Winx to her third W. S. Cox Plate win, breaking her previous race record set in 2015 with 2:02.94.

Likewise, Bowman was also only the second jockey to win three successive Cox Plates after Brent Thomson managed the feat from 1977-79 on three separate thoroughbreds – Family of Man (’77), So Called (’78) and Dulcify (’79).

[45][46] Winx and Bowman returned to racing, in what would be the mare’s final campaign, on 16 February with victory in the Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick.

[48] Bowman was in England as part of a three-month riding stint with trainer Mick Channon who was based at West Ilsley in Berkshire.

In addition to winning the Shergar Cup, Bowman also received the Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle, the award given to the individual jockey who has accrued the most points in the competition.

Bowman won another Group 1 in Hong Kong when he rode Lucky Bubbles to success in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (HK).

The scoring for the award is based upon performances in the 100-highest rated Group 1 races internationally for that year, as established by the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee.