Hewick

Hewick is a racehorse that has had an unbelievable career, going all over the world and winning a huge amount of prize money along the way. Foaled in 2015, perhaps even more remarkable than his career path so far has been the fact that he cost just £800 to purchase, going down as one of the best horse racing bargains of all time.

Current prize money earned by the horse stands at over £750,000, to put that price tag in perspective, and much of that has been down to some fantastic placing and race planning by the Shark Hanlon team, as much as the horse’s ability.

The horse would make his Aintree Grand National debut in 2025, where he would run a very respectable race to finish in 8^th position, ridden on the day by Gavin Sheehan.

Full Results

Hewick’s Early Years

At the start of Hewick’s career, it’s probably fair to say that he lived up to his £800 price tag. He would begin in point-to-point races in 2019, and would fall twice and unseat his rider once, it wasn’t the best of starts for any horse.

Moving across to racing under rules, he would grab his first success in a hurdle race at Kilbeggan in September 2020. When he moved up to the larger obstacles and went chasing, that’s when his career began to really take shape, and he would show what he was really capable of.

Hewick’s Big Race Wins

The career of Hewick, as he rose through the ranks, was incredibly varied, and he took paths that many others have not taken before, especially not altogether. It was varied, kept his fans on their toes, but ultimately, delivered success and plenty of prize money.

The first big race that Hewick would win came in the UK. He was sent across to Sedgefield to run in the Durham National in October 2021. Not a huge race, it was a long distance staying handicap, run over 3m5f. He won the race, and this was the real first sign that the horse could be above average, but also one that relished the strong staying marathon races.

At the end of the same season, in April 2022, Hewick landed his second big race victory, and again it was in the UK. He would go to Sandown for the Grade 3 Bet365 Gold Cup, which is a traditional big race to end the jumps season in the UK, and a very valuable pot.

He would keep racing in the summer, a decision that paid real dividends for connections. Targeted at the Galway Plate, a big summer jumps race in July, Hewick would win this too, so that was three very big handicap success he’d taken. This was a horse rapidly progressing through the ranks and getting better with every run.

Next up came perhaps the most surprising move of his career. Hanlon decided to send his horse to the United States, where he would run in the American Grand National at Far Hills racecourse in New Jersey. This race isn’t like our National, because it’s a hurdle race, so not only was the horse travelling to the other side of the world, but he was moving back to hurdling from chasing.

But that didn’t stop him from putting up a huge performance, not only did he win the American Grand National, but he did it with ease, recording a winning distance of 11 and a half lengths on the day.

The success would keep on coming. After a break, he was back the following year, winning the Grade 2 Oaksey Chase at Sandown in April 2023 to round off a wonderful season.

Then came his most notable achievement to date, as he would run in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day 2023, one of the big season highlights in the UK calendar, and the biggest Cheltenham Gold Cup trial that we have.

Despite being outpaced in the early stages, which made him 550/1 in running on the exchanges, he would come with a very late surge to fly past Bravemansgame and Allaho and claim the prize. It was another special training feat, another special performance, and even more from the horse that cost just £800.

After winning that, the Cheltenham Gold Cup was the next logical step for the horse. However, he would fall at the second to last fence when still in contention to go close. Who knows what would have happened if he’d stayed on his feet.

After that, he would finish third in the Punchestown Gold Cup and then second in the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil, another race where some outside of the box race planning earned connections a nice prize.

In the 2024/25 season, the horse was trained with the Aintree Grand National in mind, and he would turn up to Aintree under a big weight and run a respectable race to finish in 8^th position.

The horse has had one of the most memorable careers of any racehorse, from bargain basement buy to huge performances in the UK, Ireland, France and the USA.