Hewick has been added to the primary Grade One award of Saturday’s National Hunt season at Down Royal, thanks to a €15,000 investment by the connections of the esteemed victor of the King George. The prospect of swift jumping terrain might make Gordon Elliott hesitate to let Gerri Colombe, last year’s champion, participate, but this could benefit the Hewick squad. Among the seven entrants remaining in the €150,000 centrepiece following Tuesday’s final acceptance phase, Hewick will seek a pivotal upper-tier win for his trainer, John ‘Shark’ Hanlon, before he starts his ban on December 1st.
Last week, an appeal to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) resulted in a reduction of Hanlon’s original ten-month license suspension, incurred due to having transported a deceased horse in the public eye, to six months. Compliance with certain IHRB stipulations could bring this down to a mere three months.
Hewick’s second appearance at Down Royal comes over five years after a lesser handicap hurdle there left him without earnings. However, the sports world has since seen the €850 acquisition rise to become one of its most noteworthy success stories, boasting wins in events such as the Galway Plate and the American Grand National.
As an initial response, bookmakers placed Hewick as the third 5/1 favourite, behind Envoi Allen, the 2022 winner, and Gerri Colombe. The latter remains a strong favourite, despite the potential of racing at Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase on the same day. If Down Royal officials didn’t meticulously water and instead experienced the kind of soft terrain expected for the Curragh’s flat season finale on Sunday, there might be no doubt as to where Gerri Colombe should make his season debut.
The unexpected weather and ground factors led to the discontinuation of the scheduled event at Thurles on Thursday, owing to the unconventional dry climate experienced this month. Course clerk Lorcan Wyer mentioned the ground has not seen enough rainfall to be fit for National Hunt racing. Despite 10mm of rainfall since the previous Thursday’s entries, Wyer found upon his regular inspection that the course was unfit for jumper racing. The insufficient projected rainfall led to the tough decision of calling off the event.
Meanwhile, at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar set to take place on Friday and Saturday, we’ll see 16 players from Ireland. Aidan O’Brien will be presenting 11 runners, with City of Troy, deemed as the 5/2 Morning Line favourite in the US, leading the group in the $7 million Classic. Notably, O’Brien has also secured Frankie Dettori for Content (Filly & Mare) and Ides of March, both viewed as substitutes hopefuls for the Juvenile Turf Sprint on Friday night.
Donnacha, Aidan O’Brien’s son, will present a considerable Mile contender, Porta Fortuna, who will commence from stall seven under Tom Marquand. Besides, three other hopefuls from Ireland are looking forward to the competition.
Ger Lyons and Colin Keane will join forces for Magnum Force in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, while Gary Carroll will be riding Gavin Cromwell’s 30/1 longshot Fiery Lucy in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Adrian Murray’s Hill Road will take on dirt in the Juvenile, with Italian Umberto Rispoli at the reins.
One of the promising entrants, City of Troy’s half-sister Takemetothemountain is eager to improve on her Leopardstown performance in a Dundalk maiden fillies event on Wednesday. Also expected to make impressive strides are First Wave and Serengeti, who can potentially be the dominant ones in the colt’s maiden.