John “Shark” Hanlon, who saddled Hewick to record a memorable success in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, has had his licence suspended for 10 months by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board after an incident in June when a dead horse was transported “over a significant distance on the public roads” and was “completely uncovered and fully visible to members of the public”.
Videos of the carcass on an open trailer behind a horsebox with Hanlon’s distinctive #TeamHewick branding circulated on social media. The IHRB’s referrals committee said in its finding on the case on Thursday that the incident had caused “significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of horse racing”.
