Gentleman Valley (Fr)

This gorgeous-looking horse has the talent to match. He made a promising debut in the Provence Racing colours when runner-up at Senonnes in August before finishing an excellent fourth at Le Touquet on unsuitably-testing ground.

It was frustrating that he fell at the first when favourite at the opening Cagnes-sur-Mer fixture in December and the ground had turned against him when he was ready to run on the south coast after Christmas. He's currently on a break with the intention of returning in the spring and running through the summer when the ground should be in his favour. We're looking forward to getting over to the delightful tracks on the north coast like Clairefontaine when he should have plenty of suitable opportunities.

Gentleman Valley joined us in the summer with an impressive record of five wins from 13 hurdles starts when trained in Britain by Ben Pauling. He’s a real character but he is really enjoying life at Avilly-Saint-Leonard. The relaxed nature of French racing seems to suit him and we’re excited to see how far he can go.