Gewan denies Aidan O’Brien’s record with shock 25-1 victory at Dewhurst Stakes

The punters who cheered as the winner crossed the line in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes were those who had remembered the old betting rule that you should always forgive a good horse a bad run.

Gewan, the 25-1 winner of the season’s most prestigious race for two-year-olds, looked every bit a classic in his first two starts before finishing a mediocre fourth as the 6-5 favorite for the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster last month. He returned to his former form in no uncertain terms under a confident ride from James Doyle, who quickly came close to taking the early lead before grabbing a decisive advantage with a move to the front with a furlong-and-a-half lead.

Gewan, running in the green colors of Chinese billionaire Zhang Yuesheng, crossed the line three-quarters ahead of the 7-4 favourite, Gstaad, to thwart Aidan O’Brien’s tilt to a record ninth Dewhurst success. That Gstaad’s main rival in the market, Distant Storm, was a mile clear of third place, while Zavateri, this season’s Group 1 winner, finished fourth also lends a solid feel to the form.

The path Gewan has taken through his junior season also replicates the path taken by Chaldean, the 2023 2,000 Guineas winner, during his two-year campaign three years ago. Andrew Balding’s colt is now priced at 12-1 at the top and gives the trainer a third victory in the stallion classic since 2020.

“We said when we entered the race that it was too expensive,” Balding said. ‘His appearance in York [in the Acomb Stakes] was really good and you have to forgive him Doncaster. So we were not without hope, but he still has to come and do it, he had a fantastic ride and he is a very good horse.”

Gewan’s owner bought the colt after his impressive win at the Acomb, and took responsibility for the subsequent failure at Town Moor.

“They are very straightforward and accepted the defeat at Doncaster without hesitation because they had just bought the horse,” Balding said. “That allowed us to just go ahead and stick to the plan we wanted, and that’s the reason he’s here.

“The soft ground didn’t help at Doncaster but I don’t think it was just that. For whatever reason he wasn’t at his best but he was today. It’s a relief but his work at home suggested he would be a factor today.”

A son of Night Of Thunder, the winner of the 2014 2,000 Guineas, it is far from guaranteed that Gewan will make the Derby trip, but a mile and a half at Epsom promises to be ideal for Pierre Bonnard, the winner of the 10-furlong Zetland Stakes.

O’Brien’s colt is by Camelot, the 2012 Derby winner, and an impressive physical specimen with already plenty of room for further progress over the winter. The May Festival in Chester is seven months away, but it is easy to see Pierre Bonnard as a leading member of O’Brien’s squad for a meeting where he tried this year’s Lambourn and Minnie Hauk, the Derby and Oaks winners respectively.

‘He was a bit green, but Christophe [Soumillon] “I was very happy with him and he is a very straightforward horse,” O’Brien said. “I think he will be a Derby trial horse and go from there, but I imagine he will do really well over the coming winter months.”

The Zetland is the only British youth group race over a mile, but Soumillon reported that Pierre Bonnard, an overall 16-1 chance for next year’s Derby, still had plenty left at the post.

“When I started asking him to pick up at the four-furlong mark, he switched gears very easily,” Soumillon said. “He still had a lot of power after the finish, so I’m sure he’ll be a horse next season.”