Legendary jockey Ruby Walsh expressed his disappointment with the decision to allow two favored King George runners to go to post early while the others paraded.

The Grade 1 prize was won in dramatic fashion by Hewick after Shishkin stumbled and unseated Nico de Boinville from the lead several strides after the second-last.

Hewick, who had hit 549-1 in running and appeared to have no chance, made a remarkable comeback after the last fence to overtake Allaho and Bravemansgame in the final moments.

Ruby Walsh's Criticism

Although the on-track action was exceptional, Walsh was unimpressed by what occurred before the race. As is customary with most major races, the horses are paraded in front of the grandstands before heading to the start, allowing spectators to get a final glimpse of the stars on display.

In special circumstances, certain horses may be given permission to go to the start early. This is typically done for more skittish horses that could be affected by the noise from the crowd.

However, both Bravemansgame and Shishkin were granted permission to go down early and skip the parade, much to the surprise of ITV Racing's Ruby Walsh.

Walsh stated, "This is what I am seeing and I don't think it's right – four horses have to parade but two go early. You can't let Shishkin and Bravemansgame go off early to the start and leave the rest to parade – that's not fair. You all parade or nobody does. You can't let the two favorites go to the start before everybody else."

Walsh's ITV colleague Mick Fitzgerald supported his opinion, saying, "Ruby hit the nail on the head, it should be all or none. You can't have the two favorites not parading."