RACING
John Hanlon’s Christmas trip pays dividends after Hewick’s win
Hewick, ridden by Sheehan, caused an upset by winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton
JOHN WALTON/PA
If you leave Bagenalstown in County Carlow at 4.30am on Christmas Eve, up the road to Dublin, across on the ferry to Holyhead and down the M40, you’ll be in Kempton at around 7pm. That was John ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s Christmas. Christmas Day in Kempton.
“We were all together, which was great,” he recalls now, reflecting on the adventure. “Rachel, Paddy, Sean. On Christmas Day. Taylor Kingsley was with us too, the girl who rode Chef D’Etat to win for us at Tramore during the summer. And Hewick.”
Hewick was a key member of the travelling party. Actually, Hewick was the reason there was a travelling party, his engagement in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day. And few horses
