Trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon is ready to take on defending Gold Cup champion Galopin Des Champs with stable star Hewick but would prefer to see the match occur on good ground.
A six-time winner over fences, Hewick was better known for his exploits abroad prior to this season – winning the American Grand National in October 2022 and finishing fourth in the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil the following May. The nine-year-old announced himself at the top level in the UK and Ireland with a surprise victory in the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and connections are understandably looking forward to the Gold Cup.
"It is beginning to get exciting times and I love to see that sun coming out, which I want to see in England more at the minute than I want to see over here.
"The weather is what's most important to him. It was soft ground last year and I want that soft ground out of there this year.
"Galopin Des Champs is a very good horse and he's won on soft ground a couple of times this year and has looked very good on it.
"But I would love to meet him on good ground. Maybe if he is as good then he will win, but I just think on proper good ground, he might not be as good as he is on soft and heavy ground.
"The horse is in really good form, and he came out of the King George very well. He will probably go and do a bit of work now in Naas on Wednesday in a schooling bumper and that's the route we went down before the King George."
Whilst main rival Galopin Des Champs has been securing Grade 1 victories in Ireland, Hanlon is hopeful that Hewick has the ability to produce a big effort in what he sees as a winnable Gold Cup.
"There's more than one horse in the race, every horse is there to be looked at," he added.
"You don't ever duck away from one horse or a challenge and if you have a horse good enough, there is no problem doing that.
"Shishkin won over the weekend, and he looked quite good, but the horse who was second to him was only a 150-rated horse and he didn't run away from him.
"It's a good race, it is always a good race. There's more than two or three in it and there will be probably 10 horses in it and any of those 10 horses can win."
Victory in the Gold Cup for Hanlon would be a significant moment for racing, with top-level competition currently dominated by the leading trainers – fellow Irish trainer Willie Mullins won all eight Grade 1 events during the Dublin Racing Festival.
"The big problem in Ireland anyway, and the English people can see it when Willie went over with Fun Fun Fun on Sunday, is he wins everything," explained Hanlon.
"He has the owners to buy those horses. If a good horse comes up for sale tomorrow morning, he's gone to Willie Mullins because Willie has the customers. Fair dues to him because he started with nothing and now has the men to buy them, but I think England and Ireland are feeling the pinch a bit with it because a lot of these owners just go to Willie now.
"This is nothing against Willie or Gordon Elliott or anyone, but I think the smaller people in the game need looking after. Because if you haven't got the smaller lads then you are going to have races every week with five runners and people will get bored.
"Every small trainer is able to train, they just haven't got the owners able to compete with the likes of Willie. There is a bundle of trainers taking over and I don't think it is good for racing."
