Bowman is riding the wave to success
Adam Bowman is well aware of the dangers awaiting him every day.
The Berwick native has a jockey friend who passed away after going brain dead and another three companions who are left permanently paralyzed. Thinking about those instances has given him a new outlook, but it's hardly slowed the horse racer down.
The 4-foot-9 Vo-Tech grad still prioritizes mounting 1,200-pound horses, wearing a vest and helmet and seeking the most speed out of every horse he rides.
"There's just something fascinating about it all, being at the race tracks," Bowman said. "There's so much that goes into it all that people don't see, but it's so exciting when you're racing at 40 miles per hour."
That work starts nearly every day at 6 a.m. and lasts almost 12 hours. Bowman starts by commuting to Parx in Bensalem from his home in Southern New Jersey and riding seven to eight horses for free before competing in five afternoon races. As a self-employed jockey who doesn't own horses, Bowman takes steps to ensure he continues to get cracks at the sport's biggest races and ride some of the best horses.
He nearly got that chance April 6 when jockeying for Lonesome Boy at Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, New York. The 3-year-old colt placed fourth, picking up his first points of the season, but falling short of qualifying for the Kentucky Derby.
Owner John E. Parker expected the finish, according to Bowman. The result also left the jockey pleased.
"The horse has a very bright future," Bowman said. "It was a big step up for the horse. ... It was some of the best horses and races he'll see in the country, but he ran a really good fourth."
Despite coming up short of qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, Lonesome Boy has a chance to compete in the Preakness Stakes in mid-May, giving the horse a chance to race in one of the three biggest spectator races in the United States this summer.
Bowman has been riding horses for 13 years, traveling to locations across the East Coast and racking up over $9 million in winnings -- keeping just 5% for himself after owners' and agents' shares. He knows what he and Lonesome Boy have could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, saying one, maybe two horses like the colt come around Parx a year. And jockeys aren't always in these situations, either.
"It's a very tough journey to get (to this point). For Jockeys, it's almost as hard. For horses, it's harder, especially the big races because you only run those once in your life as a three-year-old," Bowman said. "Even as a jockey, there might be 1,200 riders in the country, but the top 20 to 30 riders in the country accumulate the majority of the business are from Kentucky, Florida, New York and California."
The stakes may have been high, but Bowman has tiny distractions of his own to keep his mind occupied. Bowman has four kids, all eight years of age or younger, who keep him busy with other things and mind off horse racing. That's a good thing as Bowman says "If you start thinking about the race, it's already too late."
That is something he took the time to do when they loaded the horses into the starting gate at Wood Memorial. He even took in the crowd's roar as he had a chance to win. At the end of the race, the biggest support system he needed was in attendance: his family.
"They don't go to the race a lot. They're going to the race because it's a big race for daddy," Bowman said. "I asked what they thought of New York and they said they hated it, Daddy."
Which is fine with Bowman. He'd love for his kids to love horses, but not the racing aspect knowing what dangers are lurking behind every gallop. Still, he knows there's a chance they'd want to do what he's doing every day, and he'd support them all the way.
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