Phearson has drawn wide yet again this prep, but trainer Brad Widdup remains upbeat, convinced the seven-year-old is “flying” and ready to produce a turnaround if the racing gods finally hand him some luck.

Unplaced in both runs this campaign after being forced to snag back from tricky gates, Phearson now comes up with barrier 10 for Saturday’s Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill.

There was more merit than the form guide shows in his closing sixth behind Estadio Mestalla in a leader-biased Winter Stakes (1400m) last start, and Widdup says the gelding has thrived at home since.

“He has been a very frustrating horse all his career but at the moment he’s flying,” Widdup said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him run well.

“He just needs a bit of luck. He keeps drawing bad gates. He has been plagued by them.”

Phearson, once a keen-going type, now settles far better and has been ridden back in recent outings—something Widdup says is partly by design, partly by circumstance.

“We never wanted him to be like that (fierce) and we worked hard to get him to settle,” he said.

“Now he is settling but he’s not getting the right draws.

“I’d love him to begin a bit better. He has been a bit slow away which is not helping either, but bad barriers have probably taught him that.”

Tom Sherry retains the ride after partnering Phearson last start. Stablemate Bella Khadija will be ridden by Chad Schofield in the Stuart Macdermid Handicap (1500m).

Scratched from Kensington on Wednesday, Bella Khadija resumes off a dominant home‑track win at Hawkesbury and continues to please her trainer.

“It’s a hard race but she gets a little bit of weight relief and it’s a Saturday race for three-year-olds,” he said.

“I don’t know if she can come out and win a Saturday race second-up but I just thought it was a better fit than running against older horses on Wednesday.”

Widdup’s third runner, handy filly Art’s Alive, lines up in the MyPlates Handicap (1200m) after an encouraging third to Hi Dubai at Rosehill two weeks back.

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