Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@Jhanlonracing
Topics: Animals, Food And Drink, Ireland, Sport
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Animals, Food And Drink, Ireland, Sport
A Guinness-drinking horse that cost less than a cow is aiming for Cheltenham Gold Cup glory this St Patrick's Day.
The stout-guzzler in question, Hewick, first shocked the nation last October when footage surfaced of him in a local pub slurping a pint of Ireland's finest.
Now, Hewick is on the course to taking home the Gold Cup victory at the prestigious horse-racing festival. Check it out:
Hewick the horse entered the public eye late last year when owner John 'Shark' Hanlon took him down to the local pub to get a bev in.
Footage from the day shows Hanlon saying: "Let him have a slurp of Guinness."
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For the taproom in question, The Pint Depot, it was surely a bizarre sight to see yet Hewick seemed to fit in perfectly as he casually sipped on the frosty pint.
Flash-forward some months and the stout-sipper is now in the running to taking home the winning title for the festival's blue riband race today.
Hewick was purchased for just a mere £800 by Hanlon and, while the eight-year-old horse still remains an outsider for the big race, he's since done his owner proud and already earned him a fortune in profits.
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Speaking about his purchase, Hanlon said: "The story is brilliant.
"To buy a horse like Hewick for £800 just never happens. You can buy a cow for more money than that."
And it's not just the story itself that's 'brilliant' as, despite the ultra-cheap price-tag, the horse has raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds. Talk about a bargain.
Hewick has since achieved many accolades, namely winning a staggerigg £360,000 in prize money alongside landing the prestigious US Grand National.
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Last year alone, the horse won the Betway 365 Gold Cup at Sandown.
Not bad for a few hundred quid at all.
Now, on the final day of the four-day festival, Hewick can once again prove himself alongside rider, Jordan Gainford, and take home the victory title in the Cheltenham Gold Cup worth a hefty £351,000.
Speaking about Hewick's chance of being the winning horse, Hanlon noted: "There are a lot of horses in the Gold Cup that have a few little ‘ifs’ about them.
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"We know that Hewick will stay the trip and we’ll make plenty of use of him."
When asked what kind of festivities would fellow if the bargain buck took home the cup, Hanlon added: "It’ll be unreal.
If we can finish in the first three, we’ll be delighted," the owner concluded.
The horse is up against expensive contenders including the likes of Bravemansgame, bought for £370,000, and Royal Pagaille who cost a cheaper but still massive £70,000.
While Hewick's chances of winning currently stand at 40-1 - it's clear that this horse has already won all of our hearts.
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Exercise jockey, Matthew Rigney, has since admitted: "Hewick is like me, he is fond of the Guinness."
By those standards, it's fair to say that Hewick is therefore like most of us.