HEWICK – A HORSE who cost just £800 (€922) – came from last to first to win a remarkable King George VI Chase at Kempton.
Trained by Shark Hanlon and ridden by man of the moment Gavin Sheehan, he looked to have no chance at all for most of the race.
Shishkin had taken up the running from Frodon with over a mile to run and injected pace which had seemed too much for Hewick (12-1).
Turning into the straight Shishkin was going the best, with Bravemansgame and Allaho being ridden to keep in touch.
Over the second-last Shishkin was still seemingly in control, but having jumped the fence perfectly well he lost his footing a stride or two after, unseating Nico de Boinville.
That left Allaho in front and he was being challenged again by Bravemansgame, but coming into contention and just hitting full stride was Hewick.
Sheehan got a great jump out of him at the last and he swept on by to win by a length and a half from last year’s winner Bravemansgame.
SHISKIN' ELL! 😲
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) December 26, 2023
IT'S HEWICK - FROM LAST TO FIRST! A Shishkin slip late on opens the field and Hewick comes from nowhere to push past Allaho and Bravemansgame.
An extraordinary stumble leads to a stunning victory! #Kempton | #VMTVRacing pic.twitter.com/1qxeuJbsuw
“Get a good look at him, you’ll see him coming up the hill at Cheltenham: he’s on the way lads, he’s on the way!”, a jubilant Shark Hanlon told ITV racing.
“It’s amazing, so it is. When he was coming out of the back, I said he would definitely be in the first three as he was after getting into a rhythm and they were all after going plenty hard in front. We knew coming here there would be three or four frontrunners.
“Eight hundred pound, he cost. I was looking at a programme during the week and Ruby [Walsh] knocked him and I said, ‘we’re flying now: everytime Ruby knocks him he wins.’
“Straight to Cheltenham. It’s probably the wrong race, we should probably go for the English National, but there’s only one Gold Cup.”
Cork jockey Gavin Sheehan told ITV, “Put it this way: if it wasn’t a King George I probably would have pulled up.
“I was absolutely delighted. To come here and do it like that, I am gobsmacked. That’s a King George: that’s not an easy race to win.”
With reporting by Gavin Cooney
