Promising gelding King Zephyr will be chasing his fourth straight win and fifth overall when he lines up in the William Newton VC Handicap (1400m) at Flemington on Friday.

Prepared by Grahame Begg and part-owned by former trainer Chris Hyland, King Zephyr has been carefully managed across his six career runs, showing plenty of promise from the outset.

He won on debut at Bendigo in March last year, then resumed in August for one run before another spell. Since returning this prep, he’s recorded three successive wins—once at Pakenham and twice at Sandown.

Friday’s race represents a slight step up in both grade and trip, but Begg believes it’s a logical next move.

“We’ve taken each step with him as it’s come,” he said. “We’ve tried to keep him in his lane, pick off the right races as they come and we’re happy just taking the small steps at this stage.

“He’s got to a benchmark 78 on Friday and he comes back a little in weight. He had 61 kilos the other day and comes back 59-½ on Friday.”

Since his last race-day appearance on March 26, King Zephyr has had a jump-out at Cranbourne, finishing third over 1000m in a blowout gallop.

“He hasn’t run at 1400 metres yet, but he’s had two solid 1300-metre runs,” Begg said. “He’s giving every indication the way he’s relaxing in his races the 1400 metres won’t be too much of a challenge.”

Jordan Childs will once again be aboard King Zephyr, who is currently rated the $1.70 favourite in early markets with leading betting sites.