Shark Hanlon eyeing Gold Cup with €850 horse Hewick after King George win

Shark Hanlon is targeting the Gold Cup at Cheltenham with Hewick after jump racing’s bargain basement buy captured the King George Chase at Kempton against all the odds.

‘Take a good look at him. You’ve seen him here and you’ll see him running up that hill in Cheltenham. And remember lads – anything is possible!’ declared Hanlon as he enjoyed his finest hour in racing with his €850 horse.

Hewick traded at 550/1 in-running as he laboured under Gavin Sheehan, last of six runners in the coveted Kempton three-miler.

But in a dramatic finale, Shishkin slipped after jumping the second-last in front, before Hewick passed Bravemansgame and Allaho with a stunning burst of pace after the final fence.

Hanlon, a walking advert for jump racing, led the celebrations as his eight-year-old stable star took his earnings past €700,000 for his owner, farmer TJ McDonald from Naas.

The King George Chase is the latest act of Hewick heroics to follow wins in the Bet365 Gold Cup, Galway Plate and American Grand National. ‘We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a ****ing good time!’ roared Hanlon, the larger than life Kilkenny native.

‘I knew when he came into the straight, we’d be in the first three. The dream doesn’t usually happen with an €850 horse but we made it happen once before, with a filly called Skyace, and we’ve made it work with him. It’s amazing, so it is.

‘He’s as tough a horse as there is in England or Ireland – and the people of England and Ireland love him.

‘If you’re not in a horse race, you can’t win it. Anyone who is out there and thinking about whether to have a go – just get in. You never know what might happen.’

Additional reporting by Dominic King.