3 minute read

Bargain buy Hewick provided connections with their biggest day in the sun as the £800 purchase swooped from last to first to land a remarkable Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton.

All eyes were on Shishkin as he stood patiently under the starter's orders. Henderson's Aintree Bowl winner had refused to race on his reappearance at Ascot this season but shortly after the tapes were dropped, the enigmatic nine-year-old was off and running, although he did need some rousting along by regular rider Nico de Boinville in the early stages.

Frodon set about taking up his customary position at the head of affairs but in a bid to keep Shishkin in a good rhythm, de Boinville soon had his mount upsides and the pair turned for home in front with a circuit to travel.

As was the case at the beginning of the three-mile festive feature, all eyes were once again on Shishkin as the Nicky Henderson-trained contender looked to be travelling best turning into the straight, with Allaho and Bravemansgame both being niggled along to hold their positions.

It looked as though Shishkin was in control over the second fence, but disaster struck. Although jumping the second last perfectly well, Shishkin seemingly slipped a few strides after and despite his gallant efforts to keep the partnership intact, Nico de Boinville, who looked to be on the way to a famous Grade 1 Kempton double, was unshipped out of the saddle.

That left market leaders Allaho and Bravemansgame to seemingly battle it out up the Kempton straight, but there was to be one final twist in the tale.

Success looked almost impossible for Hewick, who traded as big as 550/1 on the Betfair Exchange, for much of the three-mile Grade 1 prize, but with proven stamina in the bag, the American Grand National winner was beginning to hit top stride under the man of the moment Gavin Sheehan. And once again 'Gorgeous Gavin' as he's known amongst weighing room colleagues would time his ride to perfection.

A foot-perfect leap at the last carried the momentum to the Shark Hanlon-trained raider and the 12/1 chance went on to score by a length and a half, with last year's winner Bravemansgame back in second and Allaho filling the third spot.

Both Shiskin and de Boinville were left unscathed from their fall.

Although anything seems possible for rider Gavin Sheehan at the moment, even he admitted he was thinking about calling it a day when the pair were struggling to lie up with the rest of the pack.

Speaking with ITV Racing he said: "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."

A jubilant Shark Hanlon said: "It's unreal. I said to Gavin 'listen, he will stay all day' but they went very hard, and he just couldn't lay-up with them.

"On a tougher track it will be a better job for him, but we are here today, and he won which is amazing.

"Coming out of the back I thought we'd definitely be in the first three because he was just getting into a rhythm and just getting going. They were going plenty hard in front.

"We knew coming here there were three or four front-runners and if we were able to lay up with them, we'd be happy.

"He cost £800, and I was watching a programme in the week and Ruby (Walsh) knocked him and I said 'we're flying now' because every time Ruby knocks him, we win!

"Straight to Cheltenham now. It's probably the wrong race as he should go for the English National but there is only one Gold Cup!"

Trainer Paul Nicholls said of the runner-up Bravemansgame: "Harry (Cobden) said he was getting a bit of toe 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 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."