Valence
Good afternoon from Newmarket! Global Destination kept up our good recent run of form by scoring at Newbury yesterday, and we head to Sandown with Valence this afternoon in the mile and a quarter handicap at 4.50.
This horse earned an initial mark of 70 following three runs in maiden company last year, and showed real promise on his comeback at Nottingham in April over a mile and a quarter. He had us scratching our heads when finishing down the field at Doncaster next time, but the poor effort resulted in a drop to a rating of 66. He proved that he was significantly better than that mark when scoring decisively in first-time cheek-pieces at Beverley on his most recent start, a win which has sent him rocketing back up to 73 and an enforced rise in class.
Valence was rewarded for his efforts with a gelding operation, and hopefully this can lead to some further improvement!
There is no getting away from the fact that this is a much tougher assignment than the Beverley race he won, with Sea Sculpture and Rhythmic Intent looking potential improvers on handicap debut, whilst Ritchie Valens and Htilomino bring solid form to the table. So I don’t underestimate the size of the task in front of us, but we have a nice progressive handicapper on our hands who can hopefully take his next step forward and be competitive at an each way price.
The chief note of concern is probably the ground as, although he won on good to soft, this slightly more testing surface today may not necessarily play to his strengths. He is not particularly big, so how he handles conditions will probably determine how he gets on this afternoon. Fingers crossed for a good run.
Best wishes,
Ed.