Formerly a point-to-point jockey and trainer, Michael ‘Mickey’ Bowen began his career as a full National Hunt licence-holder alongside his father, Peter, at the family yard in Yet-Y-Rhug, near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in 2024/25. He became sole licence holder the following season and saddled his first winner in his own right, Gavin, ridden by brother Sean, in a handicap hurdle at Ffos Las on May 6, 2025.
Mickey Bowen enjoyed a successful inugural season, saddling 51 winners from 325 runners, at a strike rate of 16%, and collecting nearly £593,000 in prize money. He has started the 2026/27 National Hunt season brightly, too, at the time of writing having saddled 36 winners and amassed over £429,000 in prize money, such that he currently lies third on the trainers’ championship table. He also enjoyed his first big race winner, Queensbury Boy, ridden by his other brother James, in the Summer Plate Handicap Chase at Market Rasen – a race his father won no fewer than eight times between 1997 and 2022.
Despite his initial success and his family ties to West Wales, in early September 2026, Mickey Bowen that he will be moving his training operation to Hanley Swab, Worcestershire in the hope of advancing his career. His new home will be the former Tyne Hill Stables, previously occupied by David Dennis, which have been sold to a private investor and renamed RoseWill Stables.
Explaining the rational behind the move, Bowen told the ‘Western Telegraph’, “With the quality of horses that we now have, it will be much easier to campaign them from Worcestershire, giving us excellent access to the country’s major racecourses while continuing to provide first-class facilities at home.” In his hitherto fledgling trainer career, Bowen has saddled the bulk of his winners at Cartmel, in Cumbria, Worcester, and Perth, in central Scotland, so his need for accessiblity is plain to see.