Jordan Gainford: “I rate Hewick’s Gold Cup chances very highly”

Trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has confirmed to yard sponsor BoyleSports that Jordan Gainford will be back on board Hewick when he lines up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup next week. Gavin Sheehan partnered the €850 purchase when he landed the King George at Kempton at Christmas, but Gainford is now set to reunite with the horse he rode to victory in the Sandown Gold Cup, Galway Plate and American Grand National.

Speaking exclusively to BoyleSports from Shark Hanlon’s yard, Gainford said: “It’s great to get back on him. Last year we were jumping the third last pretty well on the bridle and just hit a little bit of soft ground and he met the second last deep; thankfully he was OK.

“It's a very hot race this year, there's good horses in the race, obviously. But I rate his chances very highly. Gerri Colombe is obviously a very high class horse and what Galopin Des Champs did at Leopardstown the last day was spectacular. He's going to be the toughest nut to crack, but we will do our very best and we'll be hoping for the ground to dry out between now and then. The more sunshine we get, the more wind we get, the better, because rain is definitely not going to benefit us.

“I sat down on him this morning and he’s in great form, so if he gets there as well as he did last year, we'll go from there.” Speaking about his previous success on the horse, who could go through the €1m barrier in prize money by winning Cheltenham’s blue riband event, Gainford added:

“Winning the Sandown Gold Cup was brilliant. I remember Davy Russell ringing me after the race and I probably didn't realise how big it was to win it until he rang. Winning a Galway Plate was brilliant as well, and to go to America for everything to work out was unbelievable. It’s three brilliant highlights.”

if Hewick’s meteoric rise through the racing ranks continues with victory in the Gold Cup, BoyleSports has pledged to donate €100,000 to charity, splitting the money between both the Irish Injured Jockeys (IIJ) and the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) in the UK to help both organisations continue the vital work they do for racing.

For all the latest news and previews ahead of Cheltenham, head to the BoyleSports Cheltenham Festival Hub here.