The 16-year-old jockey James Bowen won the Welsh Grand National on a horse very nearly as old as he is, Raz De Maree coming from right out the back to clinch Wales’s most prestigious race at odds of 16-1.
Born on the day after his jockey’s fourth birthday, Raz De Maree is the oldest winner of this race for 90 years, while Bowen is the race’s youngest winning rider.
“A young, enthusiastic lad with an old horse and they just stuck at it brilliant,” said Gavin Cromwell, the winning trainer. Born and raised in west Wales, near Fishguard, Bowen is the son of a trainer, Peter, who has been trying to win this race for years but could not have been more delighted had he trained the winner himself and jostled with official photographers to get a snap of his son with the trophy. “It’s just absolutely incredible, isn’t it?” said Karen Bowen, the jockey’s mother. “I’m so proud of him.”
