Jockey Hugh Bowman has secured some good rides for the spring

Hugh Bowman hasn’t wasted any time since arriving back in Australia in trying to secure some good rides for over the spring period.

Bowman has trialled a number of horses which hold carnival aspirations and says he’s keen to start riding in big races on quality mounts.

“After riding some of the horses I’ve been riding in England it was an absolute pleasure to go to the trials and ride a couple of genuine group horses,” he said.

Among more than a dozen rides earlier in the week Bowman highlighted Streama and Red Tracer as probably the best of the bunch.

He’ll be back to the races tomorrow at Rosehill where he’ll partner Pressday for Chris Waller in the Starlight Stakes.

He says while the horse struggled over the autumn he has faith he can bounce back and put in a good showing tomorrow.

” Towards the back end of his two year old season he was a superior horse…didn’t  live up to expectation in the autumn,” he said.

“I haven’t been on his back yet but if he can recapture some of that two year old form and get it together he’ll be very competitive.”

Bowman says he thoroughly enjoyed his stint in the UK, a trip that’s becoming a regular occurrence.

“Last time i was there a bit longer, this time it was more a working holiday than anything, get away from Sydney for a bit,” he said.

He says while some recent big events in England have only mustered a handful of runners it’s no different to what happens here.

“If you’ve got a dominant horse or a couple it tends to put the size of the field down because trainers and owners try to avoid them,” he said.

Bowman also says Frankel is deserving of his title as the world number one and that comparisons between him and Black Caviar are unfair.

“He’s worthy of the tag best in the world, I’m not saying he’s better than Black Caviar, one’s a sprinter ones a miler,” he said

“I watched him live at Goodwood and I’ve never seen anything like it.

As for a clash with our other Australian superstar..

“You’d be a game man to say So You Think would beat him.

“I think he will get ten furlongs over time, he appears to have a good cruising speed.”

Bowman says the different aspects of the tracks in the UK is a driving force behind his compulsion to continue going back there.

“Goodwood is the most unique track I’ve ever witnessed, you’ve got a long straight and down the end of the straight there’s more or less a figure of eight.

“That’s my favourite part of riding over there, riding on all the different tracks…it’s great for your horsemanship and great for your thinking skills.”

In terms of the tracks conditioning he says the UK probably has the wood over us at home as well.

“A perfect track in England is the same as a perfect track in Australia, the tracks don’t get overused over there, because threes so many tracks and they spread them out evenly.”

Bowman is yet to finalise any main chances for the big events over the spring but has signalled his intention to possibly reunite with Lion Tamer should he embark on an expected Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup campaign.