Hewick - ridden by Gavin Sheehan and trained by Shark Hanlon - powered on late to claim King George victory, defeating heavyweight rivals Allaho and Bravemansgame; Shishkin was still in front when falling at the second-last fence
Tuesday 26 December 2023 15:40, UK
Hewick - a horse who cost just £800 - came from last to first to win a remarkable Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton.
Trained by Shark Hanlon and ridden by man of the moment Gavin Sheehan, he looked to have no chance at all for most of the race.
Shishkin had taken up the running from Frodon with over a mile to run and injected pace which had seemed too much for Hewick.
Turning into the straight Shishkin was going the best, with Bravemansgame and Allaho being ridden to keep in touch.
Over the second-last Shishkin was still seemingly in control, but having jumped the fence perfectly well he lost his footing a stride or two after, unseating Nico de Boinville.
That left Allaho in front and he was being challenged again by Bravemansgame, but coming into contention and just hitting full stride was Hewick.
Sheehan got a great jump out of him at the last and he swept on by to win by a length and a half from last year's winner Bravemansgame.
The rider even admitted he might have considered calling an early halt with his charge in other circumstances.
He 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."
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."
