Ladbrokes King George VI Chase report and replay: Hewick wins dramatic race

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Wed December 27, 2023 · 1y ago

Hewick came from last to first to win a remarkable renewal of the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton.

The complexion of the race changed for the first time when Shiskin, who consented to race and looked all set to win, pitched on landing when leading at the second last, catapulting Nico De Boinville out of the saddle.

That left 13/8 favourite Allaho in front under Paul Townend but by the last both the eventual 12/1 winner and runner-up Bravemansgame began to rally.

Three strides after the fence it was game on and under man-of-the-moment Gavin Sheehan the remarkable Hewick found the reserves to win, going away, by a length-and-half.

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Sheehan told ITV Racing: “If it wasn’t the King George, I probably would have pulled up! I knew that he stays and stays and I just wasn’t able to get going. There’s only a certain amount of questions you can ask them and if they’re not responding, you can’t ask.

“Shark said he’s probably the smallest horse here but he’s got the biggest heart and that perfectly sums him up. I was absolutely delighted to get the call from Shark (to ride), it was a no-brainer. To come here and do it like that was amazing.”

Shark - Ground key to victory

Winning trainer Shark Hanlon said: “Turning out of the back I said we will still be in the first three. It was some ride. I thought the game was up, but he has such a heart. He is a small horse. When he was walking around the ring, and you see all the big horses, and he is 16 hands, he is like what am I doing here.

"He has speed, but we know he stays as he won over three miles five. Probably the race for him in the future is the Grand National, but now when you are here you have to go for a Gold Cup. I said he was getting one run (before the Gold Cup) and he was coming here for that. Cheltenham will suit this horse a lot better as it is a tougher three and a quarter miles there. There was a lot of the other horses that had problems, and we came here fresh and we had a great man on board and that was it.

“He cost £800. I was looking at a programme in the week and Ruby (Walsh) knocked him. I said we are flying now as every time Ruby knocks him he wins! He will go straight to Cheltenham now. It is probably the wrong race as the Grand National is probably the right race for him, but there is only one Gold Cup.

A moment to savour for Gavin Sheehan and Shark Hanlon

“He definitely needs better ground. He is a better horse on good ground. The ground today was lovely. I feel very sorry for Jordan Gainford as he made this horse. He minded him when he had to be minded. Jordan will be back for Cheltenham, but if he is not we have a good man to take his place.

“Everywhere last season where I went was too soft, bar America where the ground was perfect for him. There was six runners today and I never thought he should be 12/1. It doesn’t usually happen like this when you buy an £800 horse, but we made it work with Skyace and we have made it work with him. He is as tough a horse in England or Ireland you will find. The people of Ireland and England love him as well. If you are not in a horse you can’t win and he has shown that anything is possible.”

Straight to Cheltenham for Bravemansgame

Paul Nicholls said of Bravemansgame: "Harry (Cobden) said he was getting a bit of a tow from the other horse (Shishkin) for as long as he could then the other horse had an unfortunate incident, and that interfered with him and that stopped him dead and cost him any chance then.

"He has run a good solid race. It is a case of ifs and buts. He has run a good race again, and he was staying on strongly again and picked up the crumbs. I’ve never doubted that he stays. He is better on better ground. We will get him fresh and well now and go to Cheltenham. I don’t think he needs to go to Newbury as he has had three hard races. Unfortunately, he got stopped dead in his tracks today, but you can’t make excuses as incidents happen and he wasn’t good enough on the day.”

The Real Whacker finished in fourth and his trainer Patrick Neville said: “He travelled well and jumped well for his first time in open company. He stayed on really well at the end, which I was happy with. He missed the start for some reason today, and we were always chasing after that.

"I like the way he stayed on at the end and the Gold Cup is still on the agenda. Cheltenham is a place that he likes. I think we might go straight to the Gold Cup. Sam (Twiston-Davies) said he was always on the backfoot, but he just missed the start. There was no one to blame. It was a good run and I’m happy. He has come out of the race well. Fair play to the winner, and I‘d take finishing fourth in a King George any day.”

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