Aisling Oscar equalled the modern-day record for most consecutive handicaps wins when notching victory number eight at Southwell last week, and he bids to set a new benchmark at Newcastle on Saturday evening.
Aisling Oscar finished third at Wolverhampton in November on his first start for Adrian Keatley after he was bought out of Craig O'Neill's Irish stable for only 3,200 guineas, but he has been undefeated since.
His first seven wins were all achieved at Newcastle - three of them over the mile trip he tackles on Saturday (17:55) - and he progressed again to win at Southwell (replay below) and match a feat last achieved by Ballynakelly in 1996.
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The legendary Limestone Lad also won all eight starts in handicap hurdles but suffered defeats in other contests in between those victories.
Aisling Oscar has, unsurprisingly, been the most prolific winner during this all-weather campaign which, for the purposes of comparisons, has been designated as starting on 21 October, when the qualifying period for Finals Day commenced. Indeed, Aisling Oscar has won twice as often as any other horse on the all-weather during that time, with a host having achieved four wins.
A key feature of Aisling Oscar's success has been the relatively narrow winning margins that have allowed him to stay a step ahead of the handicapper; only two of his wins were by more than a length.
Aisling Oscar didn't have a Timeform rating at the point of his first victory - he instead had the query symbol - as he was running only two days after his stable debut and hadn't been reassessed. However, if you take his performance rating of 53 from Wolverhampton as a base mark, he has improved his Timeform rating by 29 lb since starting his winning spree.
That improvement of around two stone is impressive but not unique. The most improved performer on the all-weather this campaign is Prairie Girl who has increased her Timeform rating by 32 lb. She's been first past the post on her four starts in the period in question, though lost one race in the stewards' room for causing interference. She's impressed on both starts since then, however, and is on an upward curve.
Dartrey had a lowly rating after failing to make an impact in novices, but the €750,000 half-brother to Group 1 winner Saffron Beach improved markedly in handicaps and rattled off a quick-fire hat-trick at Southwell. That progress came to a halt when he was upped in grade at Newcastle last month and finished only fourth, but his Timeform rating is now 31 lb higher than at the start of the campaign.
The other all-weather performer to have improved at least 30 lb over the winter is Nikki Swango. She had been on a long losing run but has been transformed since rejoining Ado McGuinness's stable and has won four of her seven starts this winter, finishing runner-up on the other three occasions. Her Timeform rating has increased from 56 to 86.
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