Meet the Guinness-drinking horse who will cause chaos in the Cheltenham Festival pubs if he wins the Gold Cup

THERE is something bothering Shark Hanlon.

It’s not the wellbeing of his rags-to-riches Cheltenham Gold Cup contender Hewick. 

PA

He has been a revelation for Hanlon, winning several big races over jumps[/caption]

Nor is it the pressure of having a runner with a live chance in the biggest race of the season.

No, larger-than-life Hanlon recently discovered, to his horror, that his favourite nightclub in Cheltenham, The 21 Club, had closed down.

“I can’t believe it, I went there every single year. It’s a disaster. If I win the Gold Cup, I’ll go down there, buy it and reopen it and we’ll have the party there.”

Hanlon, 55, is such good company that he’ll not be short of offers from potential after-party hosts.

And he might even take Hewick along with him.

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In October, Hanlon caused a stir when taking ‘the most incredible horse in the world’ into his local, The Pint Depot, and letting him have a slurp of his Guinness.

Hanlon said: “That was a good bit of fun and we had a great night that night. Hewick is like me, he is fond of the Guinness.

“In fact, after a few pints we ended up buying a greyhound that night to have a bit of fun with.

“We named him Tommy’s Hewick, after the horse and the bloke who was selling him, and so far he has won all four of his races.

“He’s a right good dog and one for the Derby next year.”

But don’t let the fact that Hanlon loves the craic fool you – he is a serious and underrated trainer.

I mean, he won an Eclipse Award a few months ago, the highest racing honour that they dish out in the USA.

It would have been hard for the voting panel not to give Hewick the gong for American jumps horse of the year, given his heroics in New York in October.

Just a few weeks after lumping around a huge weight in the Kerry National, when he would have won but for unseating Jordan Gainford at the last, he bagged the American version.

Onlookers described the celebrations afterwards as like nothing they’d ever seen before.

Hanlon grinned: “We made a bit of a commotion and we stayed at the track for quite a while celebrating – they probably won’t invite the Irish again!

“It was an amazing experience and to win that race was very special, and to win the Eclipse Award was mighty.

“We had no inkling we’d won it beforehand. All the great and good were being photographed on their way in, but we just stood at the bar having a drink and were never approached.

“Next thing I knew our name was being called out. It was very emotional and when I was on stage I started thinking about my two boys, who were very close with Jack De Bromhead who was a great kid.

“The next day my mother and father heard some noise coming from the yard and looked out the window and there were a load of satellite trucks and TV crews. 

“The horse has really captured people’s imagination.”

It’s easy to see why. He only cost £800, and in the early days it looked like even that was an overspend.

It took the best part of two years for the penny to drop, but the switch to chasing and a big slice of patience from his trainer has paid off in no uncertain terms.

In a little over six months, he pulled off the stunning treble bet365 Gold Cup, Galway Plate American Grand National treble.

In the process, he scooped Hanlon and his owner a tick under £350,000. I’m no business whizz but that is a pretty tasty return on investment.

By no means is he a social Cheltenham runner – he has enough talent to play a big part in the Gold Cup.

He stays longer than the mother-in-law and is rated just 8lb inferior to the favourite Galopin Des Champs – who didn’t impress Hanlon when winning the Irish Gold Cup last month.

He said: “Galopin is way too short in the betting. He beat four-mile chasers at Leopardstown and if the ground is Good in the Gold Cup there will be plenty who fancy their chances. 

“He bends his knee and would probably prefer it soft. Fury Road wouldn’t be seen in a Gold Cup and he led Galop over the last and halfway up the run-in.

“If we get usual spring ground at Cheltenham, Hewick will absolutely love it and he stays further than the Gold Cup trip.

“It sounds obvious but he stays and he jumps, and he has more than enough toe to lay up with the good horses.

“Cheltenham is a tough track which will really suit him and I know he will be finishing his race off as strong as any horse in the field.

“I’d say he is the best value horse in jumps history. We bought him for nothing just down the road from here and he’s brought us a long way.

“Please God the journey doesn’t stop here.”

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