Hewick will be aimed at the Aintree Bowl after officially being scratched from the Grand National, where he was top-weight.

Rain put paid to trainer Shark Hanlon's dreams of completing a King George VI Chase/Gold Cup double, with Hewick withdrawn from his target at the Festival due to worsening ground conditions.

Connections will be hopeful that the bargain £800 purchase will get his optimum surface during the Grand National meeting in early April and have decided to remain in Graded company for the Aintree Bowl.

"I'm going for the Bowl and then after that it's quite possible we'll come back to Punchestown for the Gold Cup there," said Hanlon.

"I want to go for the Gold Cup next year, so he can go for a National next year, and the Bowl looks the race now as a lot of the horses out of the Bowl have run in the Gold Cup and our lad will be going there fresh.

"What have you going for the Bowl? Paul Nicholls' horse (Bravemansgame) will probably go again, but he got a hard race in Cheltenham, and you don't know how Nicky Henderson's horse (Shishkin) is.

"It's a £250,000 race, so it's worth a lot of money, and that's our aim."