Spirit of Hugh's pop there as Winx goes for 18 straight

But nothing will stop Jim this time from watching Hugh as Winx resumes in the Warwick Stakes at Randwick, attempting 18 wins in a row at the prohibitive odds of $1.07 the win, the shortest priced favourite ever in the race.

When she wins - not if - the following day she will learn if she is the top-rated horse in the world on both dirt and turf when Arrogate races in the United States. If he loses, she goes tops as she is already the best rated horse in the world on turf.

Jim has hardly missed a major meeting with his son Hugh riding when the races are on in Sydney, leaving his Angus/Shorthorn farm “Merotherie”. The Bowmans, as all the Dunedoo locals know, very rarely stray from their farm or their horses. Even when he was a kid Jim rode a horse to school in Dunedoo and jumped fences on the way home. He later became an amateur rider and then trained horses until recently.

His father Bruce was the same, with a horse never far way from him. They reckon he hardly missed a day from when he learnt to ride from riding a horse. Even when he was in last days in 1995, a horse was kept strapped outside in case Bruce wanted to hop back on.

Bruce’s memory will be high in Jim’s mind when son Hughie takes Winx out on the track at Randwick.

“Dad saw some of the best horses race, including Bernborough, he always said how good Bernborough was. I only wish he could have lived long enough to see Winx race. She is something very special.”

Jim reckons Winx has come back a bit more muscly, and still ready to annihilate her opposition. She beat the best weight for age horses in Australia by 5.6 lengths in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in April, the race Jim missed as he tried to save his property and his neighbours properties in the Sir Ivan bushfire.

“What a sprint she has,” Jim said. He didn’t know if she might head off overseas next year or not to show the world her skills. “It’s a bit of an unknown, it’s up to the owners. Some horses just don’t travel well.”

Jim will be in the members’ area at Randwick catching up with some rural mates as he tries to squeeze in a spot to see Winx race. Hugh will know his dad will be there as usual, no doubt giving the famous  “she’s apples” sign with his hand again when he returns to scale.

Back at Dunedoo, the locals are still recovering from the devastating Sir Ivan fire which wrecked many properties. They received good rain later that month in April after all hell broke loose, such is often the cruel twist and turn of nature, but have only had a few drops since. “It has been devastating for many people,” Jim said. “Now we just need a few good falls of rain to get things back up and going again.”

Hugh was there to help with the several appeals to help fire victims – a job that still goes on to get farmers and townsfolk back on their feet. Winx running gives them something to feel good about.