Shark Hanlon announces new licence holder for his yard

John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has revealed Tara Lee Cogan will take over the licence at his County Carlow yard after his ban begins on Sunday, meaning his stable star Hewick could yet defend his crown in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Hanlon will serve a six-month suspension, with the possibility it could later be reduced to three, after a Referrals Committee of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board ruled he had acted in a manner that “caused significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of racing” in the removal of a dead horse from his yard earlier this year.

With the trainer’s ban commencing on December 1, plans remain uncertain for Hewick, who made a fine start to his campaign when second to Envoi Allen in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal and travelled to Haydock for last weekend’s Betfair Chase, only to be withdrawn on the day due to the rain-softened ground.

Hanlon, who made the difficult decision to sell several of his horses at a dispersal sale at Goffs in October, is now preparing to hand over the reins to Cogan, who has not saddled a winner under National Hunt rules in over 10 years.

“Tara Cogan is going to take over training. She’s a friend not too far from me and she’s moving into my yard,” Hanlon – who had his original 10-month ban reduced on appeal – said on Friday afternoon.

“She takes over on Monday. We haven’t a lot of horses to run, we only have seven, eight or 10 to run, so she’s taking over and I’m delighted because she’s been a friend for years and she knows the run of the yard because she used to come down and work her own horses with mine.

“She only has three or four horses, so they’re coming down to my yard over the weekend, and she’s keeping on my staff, which is very important. Rachel (O’Neill, Hanlon’s partner) will be there to give her a hand with whatever she wants to know as well.

“I’ll take a sideline as my sister is not well in America and I’m bringing my mother to America to see her. We’ll take a sideline for the time being and the sooner this is over the better.”

While Hanlon will not be able to play any part in the training of Hewick during the next few months, he does hold an entry in the King George.

“The plan the whole time was to run at Christmas somewhere. He’s entered in the King George and he’ll probably be entered for Leopardstown,” Hanlon added.

“Whatever Tara and Rachel want to do it’ll be no problem. Tara is friendly with the man that owns Hewick as well, he’d know her.

“I’m taking a holiday for a couple of months and will see if I can replace some of the horses I lost.”