Hamish picked up from where he left off last season by claiming top honours in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes at Newbury.

The William Haggas-trained veteran was unbeaten in 2023, securing four straight victories at Group Three level.

Now an eight-year-old, the Motivator gelding was at it again when coming from last to first to edge out Al Qareem and Salt Bay in a tight finish, in a race registered as the John Porter.

Al Qareem set the early pace, but Kieran Shoemark brought St Leger runner-up Arrest through to challenge after starting slowly and steering a wide course.

The latter looked in need of the outing as he just faded late on, while 5-2 favourite Hamish pushed on with a decisive move at the furlong pole.

Al Qareem kept on gamely to keep the winner up to his work and Salt Bay belied his big odds with a late surge, but Hamish was always doing just enough to prevail by a neck and a nose.

Haggas said: I’m delighted and he doesn’t really do a lot in front, the ground wasn’t really soft enough, he had a 3lb penalty, but he keeps winning and that’s terrific.

“That’s five-in-a-row and at Group Three level and now we have to go up in grade and see if he can cope with that. It will be the Ormonde (at Chester) or the Yorkshire Cup, but he does need soft ground.

“It does not rain at York anymore so that could be a problem, whereas Chester it always rains, so I suppose it will be the Ormonde. He won that last year but he will have a penalty, so we will see.”

Hamish is owned by the Newmarket trainer’s father, Brian, making his success all the more special for the yard, in particular Haggas’ wife, Maureen.

“He’s marvellous, but it’s nothing to do with me,” added Haggas.

“It’s all Maureen, she rides him, eats, sleeps and thinks about him all the time. I take all the glory which is terrific, but she gets all the credit from me. If he had to be fed or me, then I would be going hungry.”

An equally delighted Maureen Haggas said: “He’s a talented horse and has always been a talented horse. He was a really good three-year-old and ran in the Hardwicke at four and ran really well. He then got a bad injury and was off the rest of the year and most of the following year.

“He came out and beat Hukum first time back after 18 months off.

“He is a horse who has had a serious injury and we have to look after him. This ground was only just safe (for him), only just. I wouldn’t want to run him on this again, he wants proper soft ground.

“It’s nice to have these old horses and quite a lot of people follow him, it’s nice. Some come and go, but it’s nice to have one or two who stick around and are useful. He’s a grand horse.”