'I wouldn't be keeping a horse for the title - I'd be selling it'

Having won or shared the last two point-to-point handlers’ titles, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to conclude that Colin Bowe might be keen to get the treble up this term.

In a way, he is, but the truth of the matter is that his priorities are more nuanced. While winners are important, in reality, they are important to him only as a means to an end.

Like so many of the traditional point-to-point trainers, Bowe’s business is selling. Willie Mullins’s goal is winners for the sake of winners, but Bowe is one of those charged with feeding the production lines.