It is not very often a long range plan comes off without some sort of hiccup...but the sheer relief and excitement when it does is something we will never forget after Begood Toya Mother won the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday. 

When Begood Toya Mother won his fourth race at Sandown in April, a plan was put into place to aim the Myboycharlie gelding at the elite race.
"Since Sandown he put the writing on the wall as the type of horse, that fitted the profile for this race," said Bowman. 
 
Declan Bates round the race of his life at 52kg, well below his usual riding weight to hold off the challenge of Age of Chivalry and Widgee Turf. 
"He just keeps improving this horse, mentally more than anything. He was a bit tricky, so they've done a massive job just to help him mature and produce him for the big day."

Begood Toya Mother was welcomed back to the winners stall with an enormous cheer from his large ownership group, which consists of 55 owners. 

The celebrations for many owners went long into the night and no doubt there would've been a few sore heads the next day. 

Congratulations to all of his owners!

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed in some way shape or form. Its a team effort and we are so lucky to have magnificent staff and other people that have helped along the way. These include the breakers who broke him in, the pre-trainers who dealt with him as a young horse, the dentist, the farrier, the acupuncturist, the agistment properties who have looked after him. The list goes on and on but we are extremely thankful for everyone's help! ​

So what do we know about the number 100?

• The year 100CE saw the invention of the wheelbarrow in China
• 100 is the sum of the first ten odd numbers (1+3+5+7+9+11+13+17+19+21=100)
• A par 3 has to be a minimum of 100 yards on the USPGA Tour
• Japan has approximately 44,449 centenarians (people living to the age of 100)
• Crowned Lizzie was Daniel Bowman’s 100th career winner

Crowned Lizzy is a new season three-year-old filly, and like so many of her sisterhood, she seemingly has a stellar career ahead. On Thursday at Warrnambool, the filly came from last to win easily – this was a win that has come off the back of some good winter’s work.
Congratulations to all the owners of this promising filly. To win a race – any race so close to spring is a good sign; and to do it so easily really has us excited. Crowned Lizzy will always be our 100th winner and its an achievement that has taken us on many highs and lows to reach it. 

​The Memsie Stakes has been won by the likes of Atlantic Jewel, So You Think, Weekend Hussler, Sunline (twice), the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup champion Galilee, Lord (four times), Rising Fast – the only horse to win the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup treble in one year, Ajax and Phar Lap in 1931. Our very own Begood Toya Mother will attempt to join this list on Saturday.
Our star gelding will face two past Memsie winners in Humidor and Black Heart Bart, as well as four-time Group 1 winner Hartnell and the star mare of the land Alizee. The field has won about $30 million dollars in combined stakes, and now in what is the just the 2nd Group 1 runner for the Bowman stable, we are mixing it with the best and we are ready to take it right up to them.
Whatever the result, it is thrilling to have a horse good enough to run in this company. We are excited, the horse will run well, and with even luck, we will see if his best is brilliant enough to serve it up to the best horses in the land. Fingers crossed and we hope to see everyone out there for what might be an historic day. 

Begood Toya Mother tuned up for Saturday week's Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) with a head-turning exhibition gallop between races at Warrnambool on Thursday.
The emerging son of Myboycharlie sat off stablemate Working From Home in the 1000-metre hit-out before being asked to improve into his work by jockey Declan Bates.
On the line, Begood Toya Mother had almost a length to spare over Working From Home, who was ridden by Harry Coffey.
Trainer Daniel Bowman was delighted with the work and confirmed the plans for Begood Toya Mother to run first-up at Caulfield next week en route to the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clark Stakes (1400m).
"He was really good, He had a good blow afterwards which was what he needed, to step out at the races and get rid of some nervous energy," said Bowman
"He got a bit out of the trial last week but we wanted him to come here and sit off another quality horse and really finish off his work, which he did."

Racing.com - James Tzaferis

Does anyone know what an Epaulette is? Well you are about to… an Epaulette is an ornament that was worn on a shoulder pad by a French solider during Napoleon’s reign over 200 years ago. Considering Epaulette the stallion is by ‘Commands’ out of ‘Accessories’ he indeed is very cleverly named. 
As well as running 2nd to Black Caviar at the mare’s last start, and being a Group 1 winner himself, Epaulette is really starting to carve out a stellar career as a stallion. He has seven individual Stakes winners to date in his short career.
We currently have a gorgeous Epaulette filly available, coincidentally out of the mare Gorgeous Miss. Gorgeous Miss is closely related to Derby and Guineas winner Gold Guru, as well as VRC Queen Elizabeth winner Gallant Guru. This all points to our filly having speed on the father’s side and staying potential through the dam’s line. The best of both worlds… plus Epaulette is by Commands, so a wet track certainly won’t bother this filly.
Our Epaulette filly still has a few shares left, and with the word for French military ornament and the word ‘Gorgeous’ in this filly’s breeding, we certainly will be able to come up with a great name once she is completely sold.
There you have it. By a sprinting star, out of a staying mare. All bases are covered. Enquire now! ​

​It was a great weekend for Team Bowman with a double at Casterton, plus a nice 2nd placing by He’s The Bomb, who looks to have his hoof on the till heading to his next start in the coming weeks.

The winners were Sleek Acheeva and Do The Hippy who both performed outstandingly well.

Sleek Acheeva pinged the gates well, then took a sit, 3rd on the fence in the perfect position. Approaching the home turn, the gelding looked like he might be under pressure, but as it turns out he was just warming up. The leaders left the fence, jockey Jack Hill stayed nailed to the rail, and with an unbroken run of momentum, Sleek Acheeva flew to the front and was uncatchable. This was a perfect case of the old ‘didn’t have to go around a horse.’

Do The Hippy has finished 1st or 2nd in five of his ten starts and didn't disappoint on Saturday. The gelding was up near the front after the field had travelled 200m. There was good speed on for the entire race, and about at the 800m mark, Declan Bates managed to sneak his mount off the rails. As the field straightened for home, Do The Hippy was ever so unbalanced for just a stride or two, before getting his mind back on the job and charging for the line. Under the urgings of Declan Bates, Do The Hippy managed to hold off all late comers to recorded a very tenacious victory.

Both rides on these winners were top notch and we congratulate (and thank!) BOTH Declan Bates and Jack Hill. Congratulations to all connections also. It certainly was a great day! ​

Yes we can all admire the goings-on at Royal Ascot this week. We can dare to dream that one day we might have a Chosir, Takeover Target or Miss Andretti that we can showcase over there in front of Her Majesty as well as the biggest owners of horses worldwide. Most of the races are seemingly won by horses in the same colours with the same set of connections celebrating race after race. But no matter whether it be a Listed race at Flemington, the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot or a maiden at Warrnambool; when your horse crosses the line in 1st place the winning feeling is the same. Gai Waterhouse was once asked by a now retired Sydney racing journalist why she bothers taking her horses to country tracks where they will win easily at $1.20 verses running them in the city. Gai answered that ‘every winner is someone’s Cox Plate.’ This still holds true today.
Racing is supposed to be the Sport of Kings, but less a lucky few at Royal Ascot this week, 99.9% of racing participants worldwide are not kings, nor royalty, nor will ever own 4,000 horses at a time. But here we are. Every trainer, even those at Newmarket, or on the rolling hills of Ireland, gets up in the cold, and does their upmost best to get their horses as well and as fit as they can. When the gates crash back, every trainer is hoping their horse gets a good run, shows its best, and comes back to scale safely.
Make no mistake… should a horse be good enough to compete on the world stage, they deserve their chance. So, we will continue at Daniel Bowman Racing to scroll through the yearling catalogues, compare the bloodlines, inspect horse after horse, and bid based on our completed stats. Sure a $1,200 Takeover Target would be nice, but that is the fairy-tale, not the rule. Keep clicking on through our website here to see what horses we currently have available, because at this stage, everyone of them has a chance no matter how minute, to run at Royal Ascot one day. Here’s hoping!