DANIEL BOWEN AND AT WITZ END - ONE OF THE BIG STORIES OF THE RACING SEASON

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Make no mistake. This is one of the stories of the racing season.

Another chapter was written in the amazing story of the eight-year-old, Daniel Bowen trained gelding At Witz End, who proved too strong for his rivals in the $200 000 Listed Eye Liner, saluting by a comfortable enough margin of just under a length after shortening from $15 to a starting price of $10.

Any more wins and the At Witz End, Daniel Bowen combination will become a bit of a legend down Lismore way, where Bowen in based, if they haven’t already.
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The son of Epaulette has been in inspired form since moving to the Bowen yard when already halfway through his eight-year-old campaign.

His first six runs for his new stable saw At Witz End win three times and also claim a second, a third (in the Listed Chief De Beers behind Golden Boom) and a fourth placing.

Then came an apparent lack-lustre run in the Group 2 Moreton Cup at Eagle Farm where At Witz End never fired when finished 6.75 lengths behind Vilana ... which was maybe not that bad a run afterall, considering that Vilana went on to finish a close-up third in the Group 1 Stradbroke in his next start.

But Bowen had his own unique way of explaining that form hiccup.

“It was a bad placement when I ran him the other day at Eagle Farm,” stated Bowen emphatically. “I gave myself two black eyes and a fractured cheekbone by the time I got back to the stalls.

“At first, I thought, what am I going to do and then, even before I left the stalls, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to turn this into something good and go to the Eye Liner ... and it all worked out.

“I’m pretty full on about where I place my horses. I like to have them where they are finishing off their races and not stopping, that was why I was upset that I ran him in the Moreton Cup ... especially when I thought I had a Kosciuszko horse.

“In terms of earning a Kosciusko slot, I couldn’t risk failures,” continued Bowen. “You need to be noticed for people to want to pick him ... and also some horses can get pretty disheartened, and it can be difficult to get them to bounce back after a defeat where they are not running on, and they’ve had a hard run.

“The easy way out is to give them a break ... but I chose to try and find a solution. My solution was I needed to turn something disappointing into something good.

“When they have had a tough run like that, you have got to work with them physically to get the weight back on to ensure they are fit enough for the next assignment ... and mentally, as well, to ensure they are ready.

“It was a bit of a tightrope, so to turn it around within two weeks and to win that race in the fashion that he did ... it was a pretty good moment.

“We had pulled it off.
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Not that the day at Ipswich was all plain sailing.

“We were only just pulling up at the track and, next minute, I was watching the second race and Sam (Collett) fell ... and so it became a bit of a rollercoaster day,” said Bowen. (Sam Collett was due to ride At Witz End in the Eye Liner).

“At first you are worrying about Sam and how she was, but once I heard it wasn’t very serious my thoughts had to move on to who was going to take the ride now.

“I was already halfway there because I knew Cejay (Graham) didn’t have a ride in the race. We are close friends, so it was a pretty automatic choice for me to pick her.”

And the race was no easy watch.

“The horse drew wide ... he just can’t draw a barrier. I accepted that, but then he copped a bit of a prat out of the gates ... and then was four wide, but Cejay didn’t panic,” said Bowen.

“She got in a little bit but was still three wide and I thought ... oh, well ... it is what it is, but at the 600m he was travelling strongly and then I started thinking he might just do it this horse. Then, as he does, he just found another gear.

“When he accelerated in the straight the hairs were standing on the back of my neck, I can tell you.”

And there was more emotion on a very personal level for Bowen when he turned away after At Witz End had crossed the line.

“Like I said, it was such a rollercoaster day ... Sam got hurt ... the tough run ... the finish ... and immediately after the race I was thinking of my parents and I just turned at looked up at the heavens.

“I got emotional because a couple of days before the race it was the ten-year anniversary of my father’s passing.

“That was a particularly emotional moment, but it was pretty emotional for me the whole day really.”
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So, where to now for At Witz End?

“We will probably go to the Glasshouse (at the Sunshine Coast on July 6) all going well ... if he has a real good week,” answered Bowen. “That determines if we can get the right work into him.

“If he does well enough, I can work him like I want to do ... and its looking that way ... and we’ll worry about the Ramornie after that.

“The Kosciuszko is obviously the main goal.

“Once I knew I had the right type of horse for the Kosciuszko, it was all about trying to have him noticed ... and have him maintain that profile ... but then to win these races along the way is even more special.

“If he could go on and win the Kosciuszko and you wrote a book about it, people wouldn’t believe it.

“Just to be in this position ... it’s all a bit surreal really.”

That is why, whatever happens moving forward, the Daniel Bowen / At Witz End story is, without doubt, one of the stories of the racing season!
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Take a look at these stats.

Prior to relocating the Daniel Bowen’s stable At Witz End had not tasted victory in twenty-four starts over a period of two years.

Bowen purchased At Witz End on Bloodstock Auctions for $10 000 and he came to Bowen as an eight-year-old.
That outlay was recouped within two starts ... and, after the Eye Liner ... At Witz End’s prize-money earnings, in the eight starts since relocating to the Bowen yard, now stands at $313,500 ... a figure made all the more incredible by the fact that it has all been earned in just fifteen weeks since he debuted for the stable on March 9.

He posted wins in March, April, May and June ... a sequence which stands a testimony to Bowen’s knowledge of his horse and how to keep it firing to the degree it has.

In those eight starts, At Witz End has won four times (a fifty percent winning strike rate) and has finished in the first three on another two occasions (a seventy-five percent place strike rate).

His wins include two Listed races ... the ATC Cup and the Eye liner ... and he placed third in the Listed Chief De Beers.

It just doesn’t get much better than that.

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