Hewick

Three of those eight wins have come in Class 1 races — the highest level of racing in Britain — and two of them were at Sandown Park in back-to-back years, 2022 and 2023. That kind of repeat performance at the same venue at the same level isn't a fluke. He then won at Kempton on Boxing Day 2023, one of the most watched days of the racing calendar. In the Grand National at Aintree, jockey Jordan Gainford described getting better and better through the race, feeling genuine confidence turning for home before it ultimately wasn't to be. That's not a horse being outclassed — that's a horse in the argument.

The ground matters hugely with Hewick. Put him on normal conditions and he's transformed: 6 wins from 10 races, a 60% win rate. That's winning 3 in every 5 races — remarkable by any standard. His trainer John Joseph Hanlon, based in County Carlow, has been open about the plan: fewer races this season, more selective targets. Last year they ran him widely and collected serious prize-money, but the focus now is sharper. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the stated aim, and Hanlon has said Gainford felt Hewick was about to find another gear in last year's race before a fall ended it. That unfinished business is driving everything.

He hasn't won in his last six races, but his most recent run — a win at Thurles in October 2025 — resets the clock. Hanlon was jubilant afterwards, noting that Hewick has genuinely become a better jumper over the past 18 months, attacking his fences rather than negotiating them. For an 11-year-old, that kind of development is almost unheard of. This is not a horse in decline finding soft spots to win. This is a horse that a trainer is pointing squarely at the biggest race of the season, with every reason to believe it belongs there.