Bowen’s love of horses has certainly grown since childhood, even if the allergies remain.
“I still am [allergic to horses] now a little bit, it’s a bit of a weird one,” Sean tells BBC Sport Wales.
“If dad would come in from clipping and there’d be horse hair everywhere, I’d be itching for days. Even now, sometimes if I spend all morning round horses, I’d be sneezing for the rest of the day.”
Bowen’s parents, Peter and Karen, have been training racehorses for 30 years, but that did not mean he instantly took to the sport.
“I can’t say I grew up loving it. I enjoyed football until I was around 11. I started riding when I was about 10,” he says.
“I suppose both my brothers got into riding ponies, and then I had no-one to play football with, so I had to get on the ponies instead.”
Bowen’s younger brother will also be riding at Aintree this weekend. James, who has ridden more than 400 winners, will be on board Chantry House in this year’s Grand National.
“It’s amazing – very few people get to have their brother in a changing room with them every day,” Sean says.
“When he started riding, he pushed me to do better. It’s something quite unique that we’re both doing something that we’re both successful at.”
The brothers speak at least a couple of times each day, with James Bowen saying he would not be a jockey but for Sean’s influence.
“I have so much admiration for him,” James says. “I think we help each other out, but more so him helping me out.”
The Pembrokeshire brothers had to share the spoils at Cheltenham in December after a dead heat was recorded between their horses.
“I was finishing well and we pulled up and he [James] was depressed because he thought he got beat,” says Sean.
“When they called the dead heat, it was amazing because it’s one of those things you know doesn’t happen very often, let alone happen with a brother.
“The fact it was at Cheltenham, obviously the biggest racecourse in the country, it was incredible. I hope it happens again.”
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exeter.one newsbite last confirmed 1 week ago by Dylan Mohammad-Smart
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