Tag Archive for: Shark Hanlon

Hewick gearing up for French Champion Hurdle challenge

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Hewick will head to the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil next Saturday with Shark Hanlon keen for his chasing star to continue his globetrotting exploits.

Last season’s winner of the Galway Plate, American Grand National and Oaksey Chase at Sandown, the eight-year-old will line up in the Racing TV Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil next weekend with Rachael Blackmore continuing to deputise for Jordan Gainford.

Trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon is hopeful he will make the cut for the three-and-a-quarter-mile race.

He said: “We are going to Auteuil. I think the race suits him. He will stay all day, so the trip won’t be any problem and the fences are like the hurdles in America.

“The only reason I don’t run him on soft ground over fences is that the fences look so big for a small horse and it is hard to get out of the ground.

“Hopefully he will get in. There are 20 entries. I should imagine we’ll be OK, as a few might come out and they ran 13 in the race two years ago.

“The pot is €390,000. That’s the reason we are going there and the reason we went to America – because of the pot.

“It is lovely to have winners in Ireland and England, but when you have a horse like him, you try to make the best use of him you can.”

Having been bought by Hanlon for a bargain €850, the TJ McDonald-owned Hewick has picked up almost £440,000 in prize money, having shot to prominence when taking the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown last April.

Though a faller when in contention for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a return to Prestbury Park is on the cards in 2024 and Hanlon hinted a trip to Japan for the Nakayama Grand Jump is a possible target next April.

Hanlon said: “Nakayama could be on the agenda for next year. You don’t mind travelling because he is a very good traveller.

“Sometimes you can’t travel with horses because they don’t like it, but he does. You could put him in your pocket and bring him with you!

“We will go to Auteuil and the Galway Plate is on the cards again. We’ll probably go back to America, and then maybe he’ll get a break.

“We will do something like last year, maybe give him a run at the Dublin Festival in February and then to Cheltenham in March again.

“People are saying to me, ‘are you going to give him a break?’, but he’s only just off a break.

Jordan Gainford will keep the ride on Hewick
Jordan Gainford will keep the ride on Hewick (Nigel French/PA)

“While all the other horses were racing in the winter, we were on a break. He just loves his racing and he was very good at Sandown.”

Blackmore, who powered Hewick to success at the Esher track, will keep the saddle warm for Gainford, who has not ridden since being unseated from the Gordon Elliott-trained Perfect Attitude in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle at Punchestown on April 26.

Hanlon added: “I feel very sorry for Jordan, because he made the horse for me.

“I have a very good sub. Rachael started with me and we have a long-term relationship. I’m very lucky and delighted to be able to get her.”

Hewick returns to Sandown to plunder Oaksey Chase

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Hewick justified Shark Hanlon’s decision to bypass the Punchestown Gold Cup and also not defend his bet365 Gold Cup crown, as he took the Grade Two Oaksey Chase at Sandown under Rachael Blackmore.

The eight-year-old, who won the American Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills in October, was going well in front in the Cheltenham Gold Cup when he suffered a heavy fall when last seen.

Hanlon decided to swerve Punchestown as a result and his astute placement paid dividends – not that it was as easy the 6-5 favourite’s odds would suggest.

Hewick was bowling along in front, pestered by First Flow, when he made a mistake early on the final circuit in the extended two-and-three-quarter-mile affair.

Blackmore had to be patient thereafter and it was not until three out that he got back on terms.

The 11-year-old First Flow still had an advantage in front under David Bass, yet Blackmore persisted and a scintillating jump at the last, where the pair came close together, saw the pair take over and Hewick’s stamina kicked in. He ground out the victory margin to four lengths at the line.

Hanlon said: “I’m thinking the whole time should have I gone for the be365 Gold Cup, but just with the fall he got at Cheltenham I thought this was the right thing to do for the horse to give him a confidence boost. His season is only starting because he is a summer horse.

“Rachael was absolutely brilliant as she always is. I’m very sorry for Jordan (Gainford) that he is not here as he has made the horse for us. He will be back, and Rachael knows he will be back but until he does come back we have a great sub.

“He always comes off the bridle. There is no race he has ever run in that he didn’t come off the bridle. He came off the bridle at Cheltenham, but Jordan said three strides before the fence he was coming back on the bridle again. There is one thing we know about him is that he would have come up the hill.

“I don’t know if we were good enough to beat Willie’s (Mullins horse, Galopin Des Champs), but we would have been knocking on the door for second or third.

“He is back here today in front of a great crowd and on a lovely track. The ground was a little bit soft for him, but there is nothing that can be done about that. This morning I came across on the flight and I said that I was glad I had him in this race not the bet365 Gold Cup because of the ground being that little bit softer.

“He got home a little bit quicker than I got off our Aer Lingus flight today as we were delayed by four hours from Dublin and I thought we would never get here. We are here, but it may take us four hours to get home now.

“He stays and stays and Rachael is so good at thinking. When he made his mistake she took him back and filled himself up and the next thing he came back on the bridle again. That is what is he does. He is a miracle horse. He has been some horse for me.”

Of the next adventure for horse and trainer, Hanlon added: “I’ve something planned, but I’m not going to say it yet. You will see it in time. I’ve a plan going out for him in six weeks’ time. It won’t be in England or Ireland. He will have to go back to America but we might go somewhere else with him.

“Have horse, will travel.”

Hewick heads to Sandown after bypassing Punchestown Gold Cup

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Hewick will sidestep the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup in favour of a return to Sandown on Saturday.

Shark Hanlon’s stable star won the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown 12 months ago before going on to claim further big-race victories in the Galway Plate and the American Grand National.

Connections decided against a tilt at the Grand National at Aintree after the eight-year-old suffered a heavy fall two fences from home in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last month, instead electing to keep their powder dry for a late-April outing.

Hewick was declared to renew rivalry with the first and second from the Gold Cup in Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame at Punchestown, but Hanlon voiced concerns about conditions in County Kildare earlier this week and on Wednesday morning confirmed he will now instead head to Sandown.

“I walked the track (at Punchestown) this morning and the ground is very gluey,” said the trainer.

“I know the horse wants good ground and there’s no point pulling the tail end out of him for the whole year. If the ground was good I wouldn’t mind taking on Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame, but just on soft ground I don’t think I’d have any chance of beating them, so we’ll head to Sandown with him.”

Hewick will have to carry the welter burden of 12 stone if he is to bid for back-to-back wins in the bet365 Gold Cup – and while no final decision has been made, Hanlon admits the Grade Two bet365 Oaksey Chase on the same card may be a more attractive proposition.

John ‘Shark’ Hanlon with Hewick
John ‘Shark’ Hanlon with Hewick (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

He added: “I have to talk to the owner about it, but we have to give away a lot of weight in the bet365 and the other race looks very winnable.

“I’ll see what the owner says. I spoke to him this morning and just said I thought we should take him out of Punchestown, he’s very good and lets me do what I think is right.

“He’s nearly a stone well-in with a lot of horses in the Grade Two, so we’ll see.”

Hanlon set for late call on ground for Hewick at Punchestown

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Shark Hanlon has warned Hewick is not a certain runner in Wednesday’s Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on account of the ground.

The going was described as yielding to soft on Monday morning, with more rain forecast throughout the day.

Hanlon is hoping that will be the last of the rainfall. But to give himself options he has left Hewick in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown, which he won 12 months ago, and also the Grade Two Oaksey Chase on the same card.

To add to his Sandown gains Hewick has subsequently won the Galway Plate, was still in front when falling at the last in the Kerry National and won the American Grand National at Far Hills.

Hewick has been a star for his connections
Hewick has been a star for his connections (Niall Carson/PA)

He was last seen falling in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham at the second-last when still well in with a chance of being placed.

“The ground has to dry up for me to run him at Punchestown, a lot depends on what the ground does in the next two days,” said Hanlon.

“He’s in two races at Sandown on Saturday, they are two suitable races and I just said we’d put him in and see what happens. I’ve no decision made yet.

“If it dries up then I’m happy to run at Punchestown, but if it doesn’t he’ll go to Sandown.

“They’ve had a little bit more rain at Punchestown today. I’d have to have good in the ground for him to go there. You need everything in your favour when you are running at that sort of level.”

National tilt off the agenda now for Hewick after Cheltenham fall

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Hewick will not run in the Randox Grand National after his crashing fall in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has revealed.

The popular eight-year-old, who shot to prominence when taking the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown in April, was running a storming race in racing’s blue riband and enjoying himself towards the head of the field under Jordan Gainford.

In the process of belying his odds of 40-1 with a tremendous performance, the Galway Plate and American Grand National winner unfortunately came to grief two out.

“We are very proud of the horse and thanks be to God he’s OK. He was going so well,” said Hanlon.

“He always hits a flat spot and he was just after coming out of it, and Jordan was very convinced that, while he might not have beaten the winner, he said, ‘I thought we might have been second’.”

With ground conditions softer than ideal, Hanlon was in two minds about running him against Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame.

He added: “If only the ground was better. He needs good ground and the ground would have been too soft for him, but he gave a goodish account of himself.

“I’d say the ground hasn’t been as soft for seven or eight years on the Friday.

“It was a tough decision to run. We walked the track twice – once at seven o’clock in the morning and again at 11 o’clock – and it was amazing how much it dried out between seven and eleven.

“He’d handle good ground. But in our country it would have been yielding to soft. It was tacky ground.”

Hewick will be given time to overcome his exertions and while Aintree is almost certainly off the agenda, Hanlon has not ruled out bringing him back for a defence of his bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown or the Punchestown Gold Cup.

He said: “He’s good now, thanks be to God. We are happy to have him home because he got an awful fall.

“He won’t go to the National. I would be 99 per cent sure. We’ll see how he is, but he has had such a fall. We’ll probably end up going back to Punchestown for the Gold Cup.

“He’ll have better ground and it’s six weeks from now.”

Hewick, who was purchased for a mere £800, loved the quicker conditions when taking the valuable prize at Sandown’s traditional end-of-season finale last year.

Jockey Jordan Gainford and Shark Hanlon could head back to Sandown
Jockey Jordan Gainford (left) and Shark Hanlon (second left) could head back to Sandown (Nigel French/PA)

While the extended three-mile Grade One Punchestown Gold Cup may be the preferred option, a return to Sandown has not ben ruled out for the gelding who has earned just shy of £400,000 for owner TJ McDonald.

“I wouldn’t mind going back to the bet365 Gold Cup. I will talk to the owners and see,” added Hanlon. “He’ll either go for the (Punchestown) Gold Cup or the bet365 – he’ll go one way or the other.”

The Cheltenham Gold Cup was Hewick’s first run since taking the American National at Far Hills in October and the County Carlow handler felt that while he needed the break, he may navigate another path back to Prestbury Park next season.

Hanlon added: “We will go different next year. We will probably give him a run maybe at the Dublin Festival, because he hadn’t had a run for six months, which was a long time, but I’m not sorry we didn’t give him a run, because he needed his break.

“Listen, we are thrilled with him and everyone got a buzz out of it. He’s the people’s horse, but because of the fall, the National has gone.

“He lives to fight another day and we know we have a good horse. He’s entitled to be there at Cheltenham again next year to have another go.”

Hanlon poised for epic celebration should Hewick realise Cheltenham dream

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Bars across Cheltenham should brace themselves for a Shark attack of Jaws-like proportions if Hewick can complete his fairytale rise by claiming Gold Cup glory.

In an era when National Hunt horses are readily selling for half a million and more, the Hewick story is one that gives hope those rags-to-riches tales can still come true.

You will do well to find a more ebullient trainer than John ‘Shark’ Hanlon, who gained his nickname from a hurling game when he was still a teenager.

A towering figure in stature with ginger locks, Hanlon looks like a man who could guzzle a gallon of Guinness without batting an eyelid – and would be quite happy to show you given the opportunity.

Shark Hanlon at Galway
Shark Hanlon at Galway (Niall Carson/PA)

“I wouldn’t have been the best son in the world in fairness,” he admitted after welcoming a gaggle of the British racing media to his yard on a beautiful February morning in County Carlow.

“My mother always said to me ‘there’s one thing I can’t work out about you John, you leave here at 7.45pm on a Friday to go to 8pm mass in Kilkenny’ and I said ‘yep, and I’m often there before the priest is!’.

“Then she said ‘but you can get to Kilkenny in 15 minutes and it takes you two or three days to come home!’. So you can imagine what kind of son I was when I was 18 or 20.”

Hanlon opened his doors to the press pack on the same morning those in attendance had been to see the astonishing firepower his more illustrious neighbour Willie Mullins has at his disposal for the Festival.

It took no more than 15 minutes to travel by coach from Closutton to Fennis Court yet they are a world apart, with former cattle dealer Hanlon’s string adding up to to around a quarter of the 200-plus Mullins army.

While the most successful trainer in Cheltenham Festival history is regularly able to spend the big bucks thanks to multiple wealthy owners, Hanlon has had no option to dip his hand in the bargain bucket from time to time – but in Hewick he has unearthed a diamond in the rough.

“The story is brilliant as he came from five minutes down the road at Goresbridge and at €850 he was some value,” said the trainer.

“I actually went to look at another horse but he wasn’t there, so we came out of the bottom gate to come home and met him (Hewick) walking in. I came home and was thinking about the horse, so I went back and and bought him.”

If things had worked out differently Hewick could well have been moved on four years ago, with Hanlon’s business model built around preparing unraced horses for point-to-points before selling for a profit.

Hewick on the gallops at Shark Hanlon's yard
Hewick on the gallops at Shark Hanlon’s yard (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

But in a twist of fate, his current stable star failed to complete in three outings in the pointing field and as a result ended up staying put to run under Rules.

Hanlon said: “If he’d won his point-to-point he would have been sold then as all my point-to-pointers get sold, but everything went wrong for him.

“In his first point-to-point a horse fell in front of him and brought him down, the second day it was good ground and then lashed rain and he slipped and skidded along the ground, and then the third day Shane Fenelon fell off him at the first.

“After that we said we’d give him a bit of time and run him in a few hurdle races. It took him a bit of time, but he won one night in Kilbeggan and from that day to this he’s after being a real horse.”

Hewick’s rise, particularly in the last season and a half, has been nothing short of astonishing.

Since a relatively low-key win in the Durham National at Sedgefield less than 18 months ago, the eight-year-old has plundered the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown and the Galway Plate, while he may well have added the Kerry National at Listowel to his big-race haul but for tipping up at the final fence.

But it is his most recent triumph that made the most headlines as an ambitious trans-Atlantic trip to New York paid off spectacularly as Hewick ran out a brilliant winner of the American Grand National.

It was a trip Hanlon will not forget in a hurry, while Hewick’s subsequent visit to the trainer’s local pub made national and even international news.

He said: “It was amazing and we let them all know that we were there, that’s for sure!

Hewick is washed down after exercise
Hewick is washed down after exercise (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

“They give you the trophy out on the track and the whole thing had to be delayed 40 minutes as they couldn’t us off the track.

“Gordon Elliott was there and had a car hired and I had a car hired. Gordon went off and filled his car with drink, I went off filled mine with food and then we all joined together.

“It’s a great story and something you dream of. We didn’t leave the track that early and did a bit of celebrating – I’d say they mightn’t let the Irish in again!”

Hanlon has since returned to the States after his charge was nominated for and ultimately won the prestigious Steeplechase Horse of the Year title at the Eclipse Awards, reducing the trainer to tears at a glittering ceremony in Florida.

“It was mighty and to go back and win an Eclipse Award, I never dreamt we’d get that. They sent me an email to say he was in the last three and told me where it was, but they gave me no inkling that he’d won. When they called it I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“I was quite emotional as a lot of things hit my head. Obviously Jack de Bromhead died last year and I thought of my own two sons and Jack after it – I had a lump in my throat.

“I’ll never win an Eclipse Award again and it would have been nice to have my two sons there with me. Jack was a great kid and my chaps here were very fond of him.

“I got emotional thinking about things, that’s all.”

With Hewick having enjoyed a well-earned break since his American adventure, the Hanlon bandwagon will roll into the Cotswolds ready to take part in Cheltenham’s most prestigious race.

Connections could likely have recouped his purchase price 100 times over if they had wished, but Hanlon is fully aware he may never be in this position again and is keen to make the most of it.

He said: “We’ve had some big offers – more than any horse is worth. I own part of him myself and I would have loved to sell him, but I’d only sell him to stay in the yard and the other chap didn’t want to sell at all, which made it easier for me.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be going for the Gold Cup, but when will we ever have a horse to run in a Gold Cup again? That’s the way I’m looking at it. The owners wants to run in a Gold Cup, so why not bring him – isn’t he entitled to be there?

“I think Cheltenham will suit us as it’s a good, tough track and I think you want a horse to stay three and a half miles to win a Gold Cup and he’s already won over three and a half in Sandown.

“I’d be delighted to finish in the first four, but you always dream about winning it and if you’re not in, you can’t win. It’d be a great story to win it with an €850 horse, wouldn’t it?

“He’s earned us some money and as well as that he’s given us some sport and some fun.”

Hewick rolls in mud at Shark Hanlon's yard
Hewick rolls in mud at Shark Hanlon’s yard (Lorraine O’Sullivan/PA)

The Gold Cup is only one half a dream double on Hanlon’s mind, with a tilt at the Grand National at Aintree next on his agenda.

If Hewick wins one or both of National Hunt racing’s biggest prizes, one thing is for certain – there will be a party to end all parties somewhere in Britain or Ireland.

“If we win a Gold Cup, and then go back and win an English National, I’d say it could take a week or a fortnight to go home,” said Hanlon.

“He went into a pub the last time, so I don’t know where we’ll bring him the next time!”

Hanlon ‘couldn’t be happier’ with stable star Hewick

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Shark Hanlon is dreaming of huge prizes in the spring with his stable star Hewick.

Hewick was one of the sport’s most popular success stories last year, winning the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown and the Galway Plate before exiting at the final fence when looking poised to land the Kerry National.

He then headed out to Far Hills in New Jersey to win the American Grand National.

The Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup in March has long been booked in as the target for his seasonal return – but Hanlon also explained of equal importance will be a bid for the Randox Grand National at Aintree.

“Without a doubt he’ll go for the National, that’s my plan,” Hanlon said.

“I’m going to give him no run before the Gold Cup and the Gold Cup will put him right for the National.

Shark Hanlon's Hewick
Shark Hanlon’s Hewick (Mike Egerton/PA)

“I’m not saying he’s not going to be trained for the Gold Cup, but he’s a summer horse and he had a busy enough year last year and he wants good ground.

“He’ll go straight for the Gold Cup and the National then.”

Hewick is likely to find himself near the top of the weights at Aintree, but Hanlon notes that his weight-carrying Kerry National run was scuppered by a fall rather than by the horse folding under the 11st 12lbs burden he was allocated.

He said: “I don’t think weight bothers the horse, you go back to the Kerry National and everyone said he had no chance because he was giving a stone, a stone and a half to everything.

“He was unlucky, he fell and if it wasn’t for that he would have won. I’m not worried about weight.”

Hewick winning the Galway Plate
Hewick winning the Galway Plate (Niall Carson/PA)

Hanlon is similarly unconcerned by the step up in trip that the National represents as he feels the horse will only improve when tasked with running over a longer distance.

“The best run he had last year was the bet365 and that’s three and a half miles,” he said.

“The further he goes, the better, he’s a great cruising speed and he doesn’t stop.”

Hewick has done little other than improve throughout his career so far, but Hanlon – who will also run recent acquisition Cape Gentleman in the National – believes there is more to come and that the gelding returned from America in better condition than ever.

“We left him in America for 17 or 18 days because the weather over there was beautiful, he was out in the field every day and back in at night,” he said.

Hewick with connections at Sandown
Hewick with connections at Sandown (Nigel French/PA)

“When he came home to me he was 40 kilos heavier than he was going over there, he’s definitely come back the strongest he’s ever been.

“I couldn’t be happier, he’s been ridden out the last 10 days at home and I think he’s after improving.

“If he improves seven or eight pounds, he’s entitled to be in the Gold Cup and he’s entitled to be in the Grand National – that’s the way I’m looking at it.”