Colin Bowe: the 13-time champion whose influence stretches far beyond winners and titles

Colin Bowe: champion trainer for the 13th timeCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Colin Bowe heads into this weekend’s season-ending fixtures safe in the knowledge that he will be crowned leading point-to-point handler again.

The Milestone Stables operator was given something of a scare in recent weeks by Sam Curling, who had been able to close the gap on the reigning champion to five winners at one stage. However, a personal-best tally of 34 winners for Curling will not be improved on as he has made no entries for this weekend’s three fixtures.

The net result is a 13th title for Bowe, whose name has been inscribed on that particular trophy for ten consecutive years since sharing the spoils with fellow Wexford man Donnchadh Doyle in 2015.

That coincided with the acceleration of a shift in the balance of power in training ranks from Cork to Wexford.

When the handler prize was introduced in 2008, Cork-based trainers Eugene O’Sullivan and Robert Tyner won it in four of the first seven years, but it has largely been one-way traffic in Bowe’s favour since 2015.

His influence has been key in fostering the powerhouse that Wexford has become. For example, Sean and Donnchadh Doyle were introduced to point-to-pointing by working for Bowe, while Mick Goff had horses in training at Bowe’s yard before setting out himself. They, in turn, have had the next generation of Wexford handlers develop from within their ranks, a cycle that has multiplied.

Sam Curling: saddled his 100th point winner at Aghabullogue on Sunday

Sam Curling: gave Colin Bowe a brief scare with his run of winnersCredit: Patrick McCann

The net result is a county brimming with point-to-pointers. More than a third of the 2,931 horses who received a hunter certificate this year did so via a Wexford hunt, with four of the county’s hunts – Island, Ballinagore, Killinick and Bree – responsible for issuing the largest number of certificates nationwide.

That has translated into results, particularly in the four-year-old maiden division, where the impact of the county’s talent has been most pronounced.

Some 101 races in that age group have been run in the 2025 spring term, with a staggering two-thirds won by Wexford-trained horses.

In contrast, just two four-year-old maiden winners this year have been trained in Cork, a figure borne out in the entries for the four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Inchydoney on Sunday, which will be an all-Wexford affair.

Bowe may be a champion again, but his accomplishments stretch far beyond winners and titles.