Hewick added to €150,000 Grade One standout at Down Royal ahead of ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s suspension – The Irish Times

Hewick was added to the first Grade One award. National Hunt season at Down Royal on Saturday.

The hugely popular King George winner’s connections paid €15,000 to add their little star to the Ladbrokes Champion Tracker.

Possibility of quick jump area Gordon Elliott He is considering whether to allow last year’s winner Gerri Colombe into the squad, but it’s a positive outlook for the Hewick team.

He is among seven remaining on the €150,000 key list after the final admissions phase on Tuesday, and Hewick will be bidding to achieve top-level success in time for his trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon, who begins his suspension on December 1.

Hanlon’s original license was suspended for 10 months for transporting a dead horse in public reduced to six months on appeal He attended the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) panel last week. This period can be reduced to just three months if it meets certain IHRB conditions.

This will be Hewick’s second appearance at Down Royal, five years after he ran out of money in the low-handicap hurdle.

Since then, the bargain buy of €850 has catapulted him into one of the sport’s most high-profile success stories, including other victories in races such as the Galway Plate and the American Grand National.

The bookmakers’ initial reaction was to make Hewick the 5/1 third favorite behind 2022 winner Envoi Allen and Gerri Colombe, who is the odds-on favorite despite taking on alternative duty in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on the same day.

( Irish favorite Jan Brueghel excluded from $8m Melbourne Cup after failed vet testOpens in new window )

Any headaches Elliott might have over where best to line up for Gerri Colombe’s first start of the season would be eliminated if Down Royal officials were not forced to selectively water down and instead face the soft ground that is likely to shape up for the Curragh flat season . Final on Sunday.

But the cancellation of the Thurles match, scheduled for Thursday, has highlighted the unseasonal nature of ground conditions for jumpers.

“Unfortunately, due to the unseasonably dry weather we have experienced this month, there has not been enough rain at Thurles and the track is not suitable for National Hunt racing,” said course clerk Lorcan Wyer.

“There has been 10mm of rain here since entry last Thursday, but on my routine inspection this morning the track was not suitable for jumping racing. Due to insufficient rainfall between now and the race we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel the fixture.”

Separately, a total of 15 Irish trained runners will take part in the race. Breeders’ Cup Friday and Saturday in Del Mar.

Aidan O’Brien There are 11 of them, including City of Troy, who became the 5/2 Morning Line favorite in the US after drawing three of the 14 runners in the $7 million (€6.5 million) Classic. O’Brien also signed Frankie Dettori for second place hopes Content (Filly & Mare) and Ides of March in Friday night’s Juvenile Turf Sprint.

O’Brien’s son Donnacha has big Mile hope Porta Fortuna and there are three other Irish hopefuls who will start from the seventh stop under Tom Marquand.

Ger Lyons and Colin Keane combine for Magnum Force in the Juvenile Turf Sprint while Gary Carroll rides Gavin Cromwell’s 30/1 outsider Fiery Lucy in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. On the same Friday show, Adrian Murray’s Hill Road tackles the dirt at Juvenile. Italian Umberto Rispoli continues.

City of Troy’s half-sister Takemetothemountain will be a hot order to improve on her Leopardstown debut in the filly fillies at Dundalk on Wednesday. Her stablemates First Wave and Serengeti could dominate the foal maiden.