If Hugh Bowman isn't currently the best jockey in Australia then you'd have to find another who has ridden more than nine metropolitan winners in just four days.
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Bowman's winning double at Canterbury on Saturday followed his four wins at Randwick on Boxing Day and his treble at Warwick Farm on Christmas Eve.
"I guess I'm just focused," Bowman said of his red-hot form.
His winning double on Music Magnate and Coolring at Canterbury, both for trainer Bjorn Baker, gave him 42 metropolitan winners for the season – 3½ ahead of James McDonald and Blake Shinn.
He credited his stint in Hong Kong after the autumn carnival in Sydney along, with an exceptional family life at home, as the key to his current form.
"I think I was just getting a little comfortable in my own skin here in Sydney and was probably just doing enough," Bowman said.
"Hong Kong re-lit the fire as to how far I could go and I've got a stable life at home which can't be underestimated.
"I think it's a case of having my focus in the right place rather than my ability to ride at this stage of my career, but you're always learning. I came back from Hong Kong and hit the ground running."
Baker said having Bowman on board Coolring and Music Magnate went a long way to the wins.
"It helps a lot and we've got a good relationship so it's good to finally have the firepower to put him on," Baker said.
"I thought we'd take advantage of the fact Coolring was third-up and rock-hard fit and he can ping along when he goes."
As Baker's stable continues to improve, Bowman's manager Bryan Haskins will receive even more phone calls requesting his client's services.
"He's starting to get the stock now and he's getting horses that are performing consistently at the level I'm riding at and he's on the rise," Bowman said of Baker's stable.
It was a breakthrough Saturday city win for the grey Coolring, and the dominant all-the-way 1½-length win over Snippets Land signalled he needed the blinkers on to get the best out of him.
"He trialled like a proper horse when I trialled him [but] we went to the races and he just didn't race the way he trialled and I thought he may have been a blinkers horse," Bowman said.
"He felt good. He jumped, travelled and gave a good kick. He was going to have to stop to get beaten and he ran through the line."
It wasn't exactly a perfect day for Bowman, however, as he was fined $100 for shaking hands with Coolring's owners before weighing in.
"You went around to each of them and offered your hand," chief steward Ray Murrihy said. "Don't do it again."
"I don't remember to be honest," said Bowman, before later recalling the event. "I did too, I beg your pardon."
