Tip from priest at Christmas Mass forced bookies to close
Fr Paddy recounted the tale of tipping Hewick for the King George on Champ.ie podcast
A priest gave an early Christmas presentation to his congregation when he tipped Hewick to win the King George on St Stephen's Day.
Fr Paddy Byrne, Parish Price of Abbeyleix, urged those in attendance at mass on Christmas Eve to "put a few bob" on the horse, if they could afford it. Hewick, which was bought for just €850, has now won over €500,000 in prize money.
"I told the congregation I have a little Christmas present for ye all," he said.
I said 'there's a little horse, and I love this horse, and a great trainer called Shark Hanlon, and the horse is called Hewick, and he's running in the King George on Tuesday,' which was St Stephen's Day.
"'And my little Christmas present to you is if you can afford it, put a few bob on it'.
"The race we know what happened. The bookies in Abbeyleix had to close down at four o'clock that afternoon and I think everyone had a fairly prosperous day," Fr Paddy said.
Hewick is now preparing to head to the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March following his King George win on St Stephen's Day.