Shark hoping for 'dream' result with Hewick 'Shark' Hanlon is hoping for a “dream” result with top-weight Hewick in the Guinness Kerry National at Listowel next Wednesday. The bargain buy has already landed two massive pots for connections this year in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown and the Galway Plate. He has gone up to a mark of 163 after his success at Ballybrit in late July and is set to give away lumps of weight to his rivals in the feature event of the Listowel festival. In conversation with journalist Dave Keena on Tuesday Hanlon said:- “He's definitely goes for it. He did a nice bit of work this morning, (my son) Paddy rode him. “It's great to have a horse like him, he's an old pet, and to have a 160-rated horse in the yard is brilliant because it's a good judge for other horses that we have as well. “He's very handy, he's a crib-biter and a lot of lads wouldn't buy a crib-biter. Paddy Mullins said years ago 'what they do in their own time is their own business' and I always kept it going like that. “The good thing about a horse like him is that he doesn't take a lot of training. If you have a big 16-3 horse they take a lot of galloping to get fit. “When he came home from Galway I gave him two weeks off and two bits of work he's back fit again because he's that kind of horse. “He's not a big gross horse but he's able to jump, able to run and he has a big heart so that'll do me.” Reflecting on his Galway Plate success he said:- “It was something that I'll probably never see again because I had all the family down, my father, mother and brothers. “To have my own mother and father there on the day was brilliant because my father is 85 and my mother is 81. They hadn't been racing since before Covid. “They are heading to Listowel again, they weren't going to stay at home when they finally got their victory at Galway — the first thing my father wanted to know was, when was Listowel. “Win, lose or draw he has a bet365 won, a Galway Plate won. If he won a Kerry National it would be an absolute dream and if he gets beaten it's not going to be the end of the world. “Everything is a bonus from now on. He was a cheap horse and the man owns him now, TJ (McDonald) from Naas, is a good supporter of mine who also bought Skyace. “She'll be back in November and he'll go out in November so he's looking forward to the next couple of months as well. “Whatever he does we'll be happy, it would be great to finish in the first three. “We are giving a lot of weight away, 10lb to any horse but after that there is only a stone between 20 of them. “He went to Galway with nearly top-weight and went to the bet365 with nearly top weight and it didn't stop him there so hopefully it won't stop him again. “He's a pure freak, these things don't happen firstly with horses like this lad and secondly with small trainers like us. “I couldn't be happier with the horse, he's after doing everything right. I might not even work him again, he might get a blow and he might not. “This most important thing for this horse is to keep him fresh for the next week nearly more than working him.” Hanlon has long been a fan of the Listowel festival and added:- “I love it and it's as good as Galway any day. Listowel is more together and you meet the people easier than you do in Galway, where it's spread out a bit. “I've taken my holidays to Listowel for the last number of years, I go down on Sunday, come home that night, down Monday and home Monday night if there are a few horses to be worked for the weekend. “After that you could see me anywhere around Listowel, Ballybunion or Tralee. You wouldn't know where I would be! “It's a great fixture and it's kind of a farmers' fixture. I know this horse will have a lot of supporters down there. “You saw the ring in Galway after he won, they were four and five deep all around and the cheer the horse got when he came back into the ring was amazing. “If he happened to win next week I think we'll have a big cheer as well.”
