Bowen is facing big odds to defend the Sportz Bar Punter of the Year title at the Whanganui spring race meeting after sacking three of his team mates from last season's victorious run.
Bowen, along with GBBH team mates Leighton and Aaron Toy and Brian Nicholson, claimed the title in the final race at Auckland after the Wanganui Jockey Club's spring meeting was cancelled because of unsafe track conditions following heavy rain.
Under the rules of the competition, entrants must wager on every race at the local meeting, however, last year the bars and sponsor's rooms remained open at Wanganui to allow punting to continue on the Auckland fixture.
Bowen and his mates were sitting in fourth leading into the final event and debating whether to pocket around $150 each for the day, or go big on one horse - they agreed on No 10 and duly placed $400 on it's nose with the remaining dollars on another runner as a potential saver.
"Before the last we were fourth and feeling pretty happy about that," Bowen said.