William Dewhirst continued his rise through the ranks at Newcastle last week as he notched a fifth win at the course in his last six starts.
With four of those successes coming over seven furlongs, the five-year-old proved just as proficient back at six furlongs as he comfortably took a handicap under Paul Mulrennan.
William Dewhirst has been allotted an improved rating of 82, having started this spell of form with a mark of 63 in mid-November.
The son of Sioux Nation figures prominently in the overall standings for ARC’s All-Weather Horse of The Year Bonus, occupying fourth place with 29 points.
Trainer Ben Haslam said: “William Dewhirst is in good shape. He has effectively gone up a pound for his latest win, which hopefully leaves us with some options for February.
“When horses take to a track and grow in confidence, you find they can run up sequences – as once they are fit, you do not have to do much with them at home and it enables you to be on the front foot. They are going back to the same track each time, under very similar conditions. It makes it much easier to run up sequences than on the turf, when the variables are changing all the time.
“There is a seven-furlong 0-85 on February 14, which stands out as a primary target, while there is also five-furlong 0-82 next week that we could look at. Whether he would have the speed for five furlongs, I don’t know, but it is a race to consider if we have the All-Weather Bonus in the back of our minds.
“He is certainly in the running for the All-Weather Horse of The Year Bonus and there is good money all the way down to 20th place. I think it would be crazy not to have a go at it, given the position we are in at the moment.
“I think it could be harder to find the right races now that his mark is heading towards 85. There might not be three races in a month that he qualifies for and we will probably need a little bit of luck in terms of how the race planning pans out for him.”
Newcastle witnessed a couple of other notable performances last week, with Brewing defying top weight in a seven-furlong handicap. William Haggas’ runner is now a four-time winner at the track and has been given a revised rating of 96.
Exciting three-year-old Rebel’s Gamble has an opening mark of 95 after taking a six-furlong novice by five and a half lengths. Trained by Karl Burke, the son of Dark Angel had previously made a winning introduction at Southwell.
Elsewhere, James Tate’s Hello Zaman looks another name to note in the Three-Year-Old category following a decisive three-length victory in a six-furlong novice at Lingfield Park.
Kylian maintained his excellent form as he secured a third class two prize from four starts this winter in a five-furlong handicap at Wolverhampton. Archie Watson’s sprinter could now head for next month’s Listed Hever Sprint at Southwell.
Master Of My Fate is another sprinter going places after registering his third victory of 2025 for John & Sean Quinn in a five-furlong handicap at Southwell.
Paradias looks a player in the Middle Distance division after following up his Boxing Day win at Wolverhampton with victory in an 11-furlong handicap at Kempton Park. Alan King’s six-year-old has been raised to a career-high mark of 100.
