Crest Of Valour

What works in the horse's favour is the yard behind it. Anthony Honeyball operates out of Mosterton in Dorset and has sent out 51 winners already this season — that is a training operation in seriously good form, and horses from this stable tend to be well-prepared and fit when they turn up. If Crest Of Valour is going to find its moment, it is hard to imagine a better set of hands to be in. The fact that Honeyball keeps running the horse — it raced just yesterday — suggests the team still believes there is a performance in there worth waiting for.

The horse has run three times at Class 4 level, which is mid-table in the racing pecking order, and has drawn a blank in all three. That is not a disgrace — Class 4 races are competitive enough — but it does mean that dropping into easier company might be the move that finally unlocks something. Right now, Crest Of Valour is a horse that a confident yard has not yet given up on, even if the results have given supporters little to shout about.