Veteran performer set for latest appearance on festival stage

This summer’s Galway festival is likely to be Hidden Cyclone’s last. The hugely popular 12-year-old has covered almost 100 miles in his races, jumped countless obstacles and won more than €500,000 in prize-money but John ‘Shark’ Hanlon admits the torch that was first lit in a bumper at Gowran Park back in 2010 is now beginning to flicker.

“It’s like this,” Hanlon says candidly, “the horse loves Galway and it’s quite possible we might retire him there because he’s coming to the end of his tether and he can't go on forever even if we'd like him to.

“Last year I said if he put two bad runs together, that would be it and we'd put him out into a big green field and mind him for the rest of his days.