HUGH Bowman is a perfectionist. The champion jockey leaves nothing to chance with his preparation for race day.

There has been an extraordinary build-up to the $13 million The TAB Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick On Saturday but Bowman hasn’t let it impact his disciplined training routine as he readies himself to ride Brave Smash in the world’s richest turf race.

On the racetrack, Bowman is without peer. Off the racetrack, he works harder than most of to prepare physically and mentally for the difficult and often dangerous job of steering 500kg thoroughbreds.

“I find the fitter I am the better I train and the better I train the better I ride,’’ Bowman said.

Bowman’s fitness program includes regular gym sessions with personal trainer Trent Langlands.

The pair have been training together for nearly a decade, both men sharing an understanding and appreciation of what each is striving to achieve.

“I’ve been working with Trent for five years consistently, then sparingly for five years before that,’’ Bowman said. “His training has evolved over that time. For the first five years it was probably just me but Kerrin (McEvoy) has been with Trent for a couple of years now and other jockeys come and go.

“I think Trent has learned with us it is not so much about getting us fit, it is concentrating more on strength, movement and balance.

“But I trust Trent, I don’t question what he is doing.’’

Jockeys are among the fittest athletes so Langlands said his training program is tailored to ensure Bowman is at his best for race days.

“I think earlier on when I first starting working with Hugh I was more a conditioning coach and we did mainly boxing and running,’’ Langlands said. “But I’ve done a lot of study over the years and I’ve got new philosophies about what Hugh and other jockeys need.

“So, we work a lot more on their core fitness with an emphasis on stability, balance and agility, just little things that will help Hugh in race scenarios when he is on top of a horse.’’

Langlands says he has developed a creative program using different tools, including balance beams, gym balls and balance trainers that seem as difficult to negotiate as race riding.

But during his gym session earlier this week, Bowman jumped between the different apparatus with confidence and poise, repeating the exercises many times, his timing so precise he doesn’t make a mistake.

“We are trying to create balance in unbalanced situations and that is what being on top of a horse is,’’ Langlands said. “So the more strength, stability and balance a jockey can have on top of a horse will help them.

“We work on scenarios that will test them and test their nervous system out when they are riding. I am trying to make their training more specific for when they get on top of their horses.’’

Langlands of Lifecycle Fitness said the dedication and discipline both Bowman and McEvoy use in their gym sessions is reflected in their approach to race riding.

“Hugh and Kerrin are both extremely professional and very methodical in the way they go about their training,’’ Langlands said. “It helps their confidence if they are feeling strong and fit through their training, and it means they will be at one with the horse.

“They are both at the top of their sports but it is the little one per-centres they do in their training that can make a difference.’’

Bowman has a busy riding schedule particularly during the spring carnival but he will work with Langlands at least once a week.

“I think your physical well-being has a lot to do with your mental strength, it goes hand in hand,’’ Bowman said.

If the champion jockey’s preparation for The Everest has been meticulous, so has the program set his big-race ride, Brave Smash.

Bowman has taken plenty of heart from Brave Smash’s lead-up form, combining with the sprinter for the first time in The Shorts at Randwick last month for a third placing to Ball Of Muscle.

Then Bowman partnered Brave Smash into second behind Viddora in the Moir Stakes and came away from that race believing he was on a definite winning chance in The Everest.

“I couldn’t be happier with Brave Smash,’’ Bowman said. “This horse is going to peak on the day, he has been trained for the race.

“My first ride on him was in The Shorts and I was satisfied with his run. It might not have looked great to the eye but I thought he went very well.

“He showed a really good turn of foot from the 450m to 200m then he sort of peaked a bit on his run.

“It may not have looked flash to the eye but remember when he first came to Australia everyone thought he was a miler so it is not going to be easy for him to beat those top sprinters at 1000m or 1100m.

“Then the improvement in that horse from the Shorts to the Moir suggested to me he was on target for The Everest. “I was really pleased I went down to ride him in the Moir. I have a better understanding of the horse now.’’

Bowman said he “got more out of the Moir than I did the Premiere’’ in regards to understanding Brave Smash and what he is capable of in a race.

“I thought he had improved a lot between runs,’’ Bowman said. “If he can do that again then he is going to be very hard to beat.

“Is he good enough to win? I can’t answer that because my job is to make sure he runs as well as he can. I think I am riding a horse that is primed for the event.’’

Bowman then cast his eye over Brave Smash’s 11 Everest rivals and conceded a case could be made for every sprinter in the field.

“There is the Redzel, Vega Magic and Brave Smash trifecta from last year and they have been set for the race this year which I really think is an advantage,’’ Bowman said.

“The headline sprinter, Redzel, had a little bit of a setback going into his last run which brings him back to the field a little bit but he is trained by the Snowden’s so he has to be respected.

“Vega Magic been set for the race, he is going well. I’m interested in Vega Magic’s program as he has been to 1400m and then freshened up and that is similar to what he did last year.

“U S Navy Flag is a question mark as you are relying on his European form and if he has travelled well. You are just not going to know until he races.

“Graff is just a good colt, Shoals has been set for the race and does look hard to beat.

“I don’t want to be putting negative spiels on horses but Viddora has got into the race a week ago which I think makes it harder.

“There is no question about In Her Time’s ability. She ran an amazing race the other day in a very high pressure Premiere Stakes last start.

“Can she improve off that in two weeks? I would be surprised if she can to be honest but she is good enough to win the race.

“But the Everest is so even that is it going to have more to do with how the race is run and the horse that is best suited by the conditions and barriers.’’

BOWMAN SURE WINX COULD WIN EVEREST
COULD mighty mare Winx have won The TAB Everest if she was trained specifically for the $13 million sprint?

The man who knows Winx better than just about anyone, her regular rider Hugh Bowman, believes the champion mare has the necessary speed to beat the best sprinters in training over 1200m.

“I think so, I really do,’’ Bowman said when asked if Winx was fast enough. “Her sectionals would suggest she could win it. Even the best sprinters can’t run the times she runs.’’

Winx hasn’t raced over a distance shorter than 1400m since taking out the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) three years ago. She last raced at 1200m in the 2015 Light Fingers Stakes — and ran only seventh to Adrift.

But Winx has since developed into one of the all-time great champions and has a rare ability to sustain her sprint over an extended period.

This was evident again in the Turnbull Stakes last Saturday when she reeled off three successive sub-11 second 200m splits from the 600m to win.

If Winx was to run in The Everest, trainer Chris Waller would have needed to aim the great mare for a first-up tilt at the rich Randwick race, virtually sacrificing the majority of the spring carnival.

Instead, Winx is headed towards an unprecedented fourth successive Cox Plate (2040m) later this month and showed she was right on track with her 28th consecutive win in the Turnbull Stakes last Saturday.

Bowman, who rides Brave Smash in The Everest tomorrow, said although Winx didn’t win by a huge margin, it was one of the champion mare’s greatest efforts.

Winx was back inside horses at the rear of the Turnbull field coming into the straight and needed to reel off those amazing sectionals to run down her rivals.

“Because she couldn’t dominate the race like she normally does and we had to wait for things to unfold a bit, it really did show her champion qualities,’’ Bowman said.

He was aware the pressure would continue to mount in the countdown to Winx’s historic Cox Plate attempt later this month.

“I just look at it one race at a time so I haven’t given the Cox Plate much thought,’’ Bowman said. “We will let the dust settle this week, the focus for me is The Everest, and we will start thinking about the Cox Plate.”