Shark Hanlon hasn’t trained a winner since October but that could change on Saturday ❌

It is a massive day for the Shark Hanlon team on Saturday at Sandown Racecourse for obvious reasons and we will look into that in more detail shortly. In the meantime, make sure that you check out all of the weekend’s tips on our free horse racing tips page on the website. All of the ITV Racing races will be covered not only from Sandown, but also from Haydock and Leicester.

First winner since October?

Hewick is the stable star at Shark Hanlon’s yard but it might come as a surprise to many that he has not trained a single winner since Hewick won the American Grand National last October. Since then, he has sent 135 horses to the race track and not one of them have won. With that in mind, it is imperative that Hewick does the business in the Grade 2 Menorah Chase at Sandown on Saturday, not only to give the yard a big lift, but to prove Hewick’s doubters that he is a real top class horse.

Connections skipped the Punchestown Gold Cup during the week, citing ground was the problem, but the ground was decent at Punchestown so that can’t be a genuine excuse. The real reason Hewick is going for this race is because it’s a better option for him. He won the bet365 Gold Cup on this card last year so he knows his way around the track which is obviously a massive plus.

Hewick was heavily backed for this race in the ante post markets three hours before he was pulled out of the Punchestown Gold Cup, so it’s clear that the people in the know are on at juicy prices. Is he far too short in the betting for a yard who have not had a winner in more than six months? Time will tell.

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