Firstly, it's not an easy gig.

"It's harder - training," Bolwell, who raced as a jockey before suffering a life-threatening fall during a race at Warialda in 2017, said.

"It's definitely harder than just showing up at the races and riding someone else's horse.

"You have to worry about if you've worked them properly, whether you've put them in the right race, whether you've fed them right. That's a bit more stressful."

READ ALSO:

While Bolwell said being a trainer was harder than being a jockey, she also noted the winning feeling was very similar.

"It upsets me not being able to ride since the accident and I just wanted to get that thrill back - to get the feeling like you do when you're a jockey - and it definitely filled that spot," she said.

She got that feeling on Boxing Day when Jonesy won at Inverell in what was Bolwell's last race for 2020.

It was Bolwell's second win as a trainer - both of which have come through Jonesy who is named in honour of friend and mentor Darren Jones.

But unlike the first win, this time the trainer got to taste success right beside her gelding.

"It was just me and Jonesy on the road all the way to Inverell and it was a wonderful experience being there for the win," Bolwell said.

When the four-year-old scored his first win at Coonabarabran in April, Bolwell was at the races in Muswellbrook tending to two of her other horses.

Being able to see the win on track added an extra dimension to that winning feeling.

"It's heaps different being there," Bolwell said.

"It was still good when he won at Coonabarabran because I was at the races in Muswellbrook. There was still heaps of trainers around that saw the race, congratulated me and cheered me on.

"But when you're actually there, the atmosphere's heaps better."

Bolwell still holds hopes of a return to the jockey ranks which suffered a setback in October last year when a horse reared over on top of her at track work.

That incident saw Bolwell end up with a fractured pelvis and ankle.

"I don't definitely know I'm not gonna [race again] but at the moment doctor's reports aren't looking very positive," she said.

Bolwell added: "By the looks of things, I'm not going to have medical clearance to return to race riding. This [training] will probably be my future."

And with that in mind, Bolwell wants to increase her training workload.

"I am looking to grow. I definitely want to take on more horses," Bolwell, who currently has four horses in work at her stable, said.

While racing is over for Bolwell for 2020 with no more horses nominated this year, the trainer has a race in mind for Jonesy in 2021.

"I'll probably look at Glen Innes on the ninth of January for Jonesy," she said.

"It'll be a shorter race but there's not much coming up at the distance [1600m] he won at in Inverell.

"Probably cut him back 200 metres but that's what we had him set for - a 1400-metre race at Quirindi on Boxing Day.

"But I couldn't get a jockey and Scott [Sweedman] called me up and he really wanted to ride Jonesy at Inverell and it was a good thing I took him up there because Scott rode him perfect."