Man of the moment Gavin Sheehan admits it would top his year off if he could complete what has arguably been the best month of his life in the saddle by securing victory in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase glory aboard Hewick at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
With victories aboard Datsalrightgino in the Coral Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury and Fugitif in the Virgin Bet December Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham already secured this month the 31-year-old will now bid to cap it off with a first success in the £250,000 showpiece.
The Grade One winning jockey has come in for the spare ride aboard the John ‘Shark’ Hanlon-trained eight-year-old after his regular partner Jordan Gainford fractured his T5 and T6 vertebrae during a fall at Naas earlier this month.
And despite Irish raider Hewick currently being a 14/1 chance with the race sponsor Sheehan is nonetheless excited for the ride aboard the gelded son of Virtual who was purchased for just 850 euros at the Goresbridge October horses-in-training sale back in 2017.
Sheehan said: “Hewick is a brilliant ride to pick up and I’m really looking forward to it. A few days ago my agent rang me and said Shark was looking for a jockey and he mentioned my name which was great. Straight away I started to get excited.
“I needed to chat to Jamie Snowden first to see if he needed me to ride anything and he was good so it was all systems go from there.
“If I stop to think about it then it has been a brilliant month. I don’t think I’ve had a better month before in my career, but I’m always about looking ahead to the next day and not what is behind me, however it is brilliant that I’ve done what I’ve done.
“I’m looking ahead to some fantastic rides over the Christmas period and I’m excited about Boxing Day.
“It is the one race every rider looks forward to over the Christmas period as before the Cheltenham Gold Cup you always target the King George, and it is a race I would like on the CV.
“It would be unbelievable if I could win the King George as it would top the year off.”
On official ratings Hewick has a bit to find with the likes of Grade One winners Allaho, Bravemansgame and Shishkin at the top of the market, however Sheehan feels that the nature of the track combined with the good to soft surface will play to the strengths of his mount.
He added: “He stays further than this, but he has also shown that he has got speed so he ticks a lot of boxes for this race.
“He is up against some very classy horses, and he now has to prove himself and up his game, but I can’t see why he won’t do that.
“The track should suit him and the dryer the ground the better it is for us as a lot of the others in the race would probably want it softer.
“He is only eight and I can’t see why he won’t improve again.”
Although Hewick has not been sighted since finishing down the field in the defence of his Tote Galway Plate crown in August the Irish born rider does not feel that will work against him on his return to Grade One company.
He added: “It doesn’t worry me that he hasn't run since the Galway Plate as Shark can get them fit after a break so he should be spot on and ready to go. That is not a worry at all.
“Having not had a run since Galway means I have got a fresh horse, and coming into the race I see that as a positive.
“Allaho is probably the most solid opponent, but he would probably want softer ground. There are some good form lines in the race, but without knocking the other horses there are question marks about a few of them and their last couple of runs.”
One thing Sheehan will leave as late as possible is the tactics he plans to deploy aboard Hewick, who is often seen to best effect when able to race close to the pace.
However, Sheehan will consider riding him slightly differently if it appears to give him a better chance of glory.
Sheehan added: “I will probably go through the race in finer detail closer to the time over the weekend once we know the final field.
“As it stands there looks like being a lot of front runners in the race and it could be that they take each other on and go a bit too quick which would set it up for others.
“However, if that isn’t the case he is a straightforward horse that you can bowl away with up front as he is not short of speed. I will keep an open mind about things.”
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