Horse In Profile: Hewick Hewick is the most famous €850 horse to have graced the National Hunt game, the apple of Shark Hanlon's eye and, famously, a Guinness drinker for his big-race celebrations! Winner of a King George at Kempton and an American Grand National, Hewick has given his connections some unforgettable days out and is bound for France this weekend to contest the French Champion Hurdle for a third time. French Champion Hurdle Betting Offer Enjoying the PGA Championship? Check out our new guide to the best golf betting sites. Hewick emerges from humble beginnings Few racing fans can exist who don’t know Hewick's price tag. While Caldwell Potter made history as the most expensive National Hunt horse sold at public auction after making €740,000, this pint-sized star of the future was picked up for the much less glamourous token of €850. He was bought at the Goresbridge Horse Sales in Co Kilkenny in the autumn of 2017 as the hammer fell on what has become one of most talked-about sales prices in jumps history. So much of that owes to his achievements on the racetrack since, but also to the incredible enthusiasm and ambitious, adventurous campaigning of his trainer, John 'Shark' Hanlon. The Shark has never been known to play down a good horse when he has one and his larger than life personality has been a big part of the Hewick story. Hewick's maiden success on the course came in a low-grade handicap hurdle at Kilbeggan in September 2020, off a mark of 94. It was the first of 11 career wins to date and the story isn't finished. Galway Plate win delights Shark Hewick made a winning debut over fences at Clonmel in the summer of 2021 but it was a year later that he really started to make headlines. He was pulled up in the Midlands National at Uttoxeter but rebounded in great style a month later to win the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown Park, bagging over £90,000. One run over hurdles later and he turned up in the Galway Plate, one of Ireland's richest and most sought after summer jumps prizes. Jordan Gainford's partner got up late, avoiding loose horse Exelerator Express, to snare a payout of €161,999 for his connections. "He came from the sales in Goresbridge," said the Shark in Galway. "I met this horse coming in the back gate with a lovely walk and Paddy Mullins had said to me years ago 'if a horse can't walk, he can't run'. "I went there to buy another horse and live only five minutes from the sales company so went home for grub, but was thinking about him and went back down and bought him." American adventure brings more joy Adventurous planning has been central to the Hewick story and so, three months after Galway, he turned up at Far Hills for the American Grand National in October. Gainford was with him in New Jersey and they romped to an easy success in that hurdles contest, having started second favourites on the day. In true Shark style, Hewick was taken to The Pint Depot in County Carlow where he gleefully buried his nose into a pint of stout as his trainer queried: 'Is it on the house though?' The win was testament to connections' willingness to go out of the ordinary, but the best was yet to come. Kempton the crowning moment In the spring of 2023, Hewick was a late faller in the Cheltenham Gold Cup as Galopin Des Champs won, before Rachael Blackmore partnered him to a second Sandown success, this time in the Grade 2 Oaksey Chase. He had his first crack at the French Champion Hurdle in May of that year, finishing fourth, and then had a midfield finish in the Galway Plate. He was off from August until Christmas, as Hewick ambitiously went for the King George at Kempton next. Gavin Sheehan was riding for the first time and victory looked improbable as Hewick was driven along turning for home. Shishkin unseated when leading two out, seemingly leaving the previous winner Bravemansgame and Allaho to battle for the win, but as they toiled Hewick suddenly was energised and rattled home under Sheehan to land the Grade 1 prize and the biggest win of his career. He has run some big races since, including when second in the French Champion Hurdle in 2024. He heads back to Auteuil this weekend having won a hurdles contest at Thurles in March and run an honourable eighth in the Aintree Grand National, where he was reunited with Sheehan for the first time since Kempton. They head for France next and another tussle with last year's winner, Losange Bleu, with €175,500 up for grabs. Not a bad place to be for a horse who cost just €850 and who has given his team the rollercoaster ride of a lifetime.
