Ralph Beckett© Photo Healy Racing
Valvano will try to make up for lost time and end his season on a high note in Saturday’s Virgin Bet November Handicap at Doncaster.
Trained by Ralph Beckett, Valvano was a six-length maiden winner last year and finished second to subsequent 2000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner Notable Speech on his seasonal bow.
A setback then saw him miss a significant part of the campaign, but his two runs since returning in September have resulted in encouraging third-placed finishes behind horses who have gone on to strike at Listed level.
“We thought he was going to be a very good horse at the start of the year, but he’s had an interrupted season,” said Alex Elliott, racing adviser to owners Valmont.
“This is a race we’ve always had in the back of our minds, I think conditions should suit.
“Stretching him out for the trip should suit him, Hector (Crouch, jockey) thought that the last time, so we’re looking forward to it.
“He’s a Night Of Thunder and they seem to appreciate a bit of juice in the ground, so that should help him.
“We thought he was going to be a better horse than his official mark would suggest, so hopefully he can prove that to be true.”
Beckett has a second runner in Lord Melbourne, due to be ridden by 5lb claimer Jack Doughty, while David Menuisier also has two chances, in the shape of Waxing Gibbous and Master Builder.
Ed Bethell is another double-handed with the hat-trick-seeking Minstrel Knight and Chillingham.
Minstrel Knight was five lengths too good for Filibustering over a mile and three-quarters at Haydock in September and franked that form by again beating the Tim Easterby inmate into second in the William Hill Finale Handicap at York last month.
Bethell is expecting a big race from the well-handicapped three-year-old, who is dropping back in trip.
He said: “He’s a progressive horse. He’s done nothing wrong this autumn.
“We gave him a break mid-summer with this autumn campaign in mind. I think he’s very well weighted off a low weight to run a big race.
“Whether dropping back to a mile and a half is the right thing I’m not sure, as he’s looked like an out-and-out stayer in the races he’s won recently at Haydock and York, but he goes there in great nick and I’m really looking forward to running him.
“Ending the season on a high with 23 runners is going to be difficult and he’s got Chillingham in there as well, who is not a walkover.”
Chillingham is likewise back in trip after a smart effort when second to the evergreen Not So Sleepy over an extended one mile and five furlongs at Newbury last time out.
Bethell added: “We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed. He ran a blinder (at Newbury) and he ran well for a very long way in the Ebor.
“He’s been trained for this race and he’s in really good nick. It would be very hard to split the two of them, to be honest, and I wouldn’t want to put my neck on the line to say which one would win, because I think they’ll both go very well, hopefully.
“We’ll see how they get on on Saturday and then take things from there, but I’d imagine they’ll have a winter off and then come back for next year and there are races in France. The staying programme in France is possibly the strongest, so we might look at that next year.”
Miller Spirit, meanwhile, is on a four-timer for Gary and Josh Moore, following a successful campaign that has included a notable Epsom ‘Derby’ double in the versions for jumps jockeys and apprentices, although he would prefer softer ground on Town Moor.
Josh Moore said: “He’s done remarkably well, he’s won five races this season from good ground to heavy ground. As his mark’s gone up, it’s mostly gone up when it’s been on the heavy ground. That’s probably why it has gone up so much, but he’s become a consistent horse.
“It’s going to be hard work for him, but he’s in good form. He’s working well, so hopefully he can give a good account of himself.”
