It was a great thrill to see Valence race to an impressive victory at Beverley racecourse yesterday afternoon. On a productive days work at the Yorkshire track, Homesick Boy took third in the following race and Jabalaly was a good second in the closing maiden.
But it was Valence who stole the show, under a typically skilful Rab Havlin ride. Breaking adequately from the stalls, Valence quickly found himself a position in mid-pack, as the leaders set off at an apparently generous gallop. Valence maintained this position for much of the race, and as they tried to quicken off the front end down the hill, Rab just began squeezing to get Valence into top gear.
He came right back on the bridle around two furlongs from home, and could shortly after be seen making stealthy headway under a left hand drive on the outer, whilst scrimmaging towards the rail led to Northern Lyte unfortunately unseating Rowan Scott. Despite the drama that was unfolding in behind, Valence was untroubled and galloped on relentlessly to register an authoritative two length success, shifting a little right in the closing stages.
It was a first victory for Valence at the sixth attempt, and justified our thoughts at the start of the year that he might be a handicapper worth following, His temperament had been called into question after a very poor Doncaster performance on his previous outing, but the addition of cheek-pieces yesterday clearly made a difference.
As a son of Oasis Dream, out of the former Ed Dunlop-trained super mare Independence, and a full-brother to St Leger third Monitor Closely and half-brother to Eclipse winner Mount Nelson, he was not winning out of turn! This maiden victory came from a mark of 66, and whilst he will inevitably take a little bit of a hit from the handicapper, we hope that he has not reached the ceiling of his ability, and there may be more to come. He will not be rushed back to the track, and hopefully can continue to pay his way later in the season in middle distance handicaps.
We send our warmest congratulations to Valence's owners, the MHS Racing partnership, who were registering their second victory of the year following that of Baasha at Chelmsford in January. We must also extend our thanks to the staff on track, who expertly handled three horses in three successive races, and all the staff at home whose continued hard work is the foundation of any success on course.