What a wonderful Christmas period it has been for all concerned at Shark Hanlon Racing. Hewick, who was not fancied by a lot of people, won the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day to create another amazing story for the horse and trainer. Now back to the bread and butter stuff, it has to be hugely interesting that Shark sends one horse all the way to Fakenham Racecourse on Tuesday, an 860-mile round trip from his base in County Carlow. Let’s take a look at the horse in more detail.
The horse in question is Finding Freedom, who is running in the opening 3m5f handicap chase for amateur riders and with soft ground forecast, this is going to be a gruelling test altogether.
It’s very hard to fancy this horse on all known form. He ran well enough when sixth in a beginners chase at Kilbeggan in July but has showed very little in four starts since, pulled up at Thurles when last seen when never going a yard and jumping poorly to boot.
Paddy Hanlon, son of Shark, takes the ride in this race and the step up in trip is going to have to bring out a lot of improvement. First time cheekpieces are reached for which might help.
The British handicapper also hasn’t been too kind. Finding Freedom was beaten out of sight off marks of 92, 90 and 87 in Ireland, but now has to race off 94 on British soil.
Maybe he will surprise us and we will see a completely different horse now. This is a small pot on offer and it’s a long way to travel so let’s see if they can make the journey worthwhile.
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