Act Of Valour can build upon a brave first up effort in the Hygain Benchmark 64 Handicap at Ballarat on Thursday.

The John Moloney-trained gelding contests Race 7 at Ballarat on Thursday following a first up second at Bendigo achieved despite a less than ideal run in transit.

Caught back and wide throughout, Act Of Valour was still attacking the line well over 1000m where he finished second to the Shaun Dwyer-trained Excitement.

It was a strong effort which returned the gelding a Timeform rating of 78, a figure which already has him rating highly amongst this field on 50 day weight adjusted Timeform ratings.

He possesses a master Timeform rating of 82, run two twice through a two start maiden preparation which yielded a win at Moe and a respectable fourth at Sandown.

It highlights how open to improvement the gelding is with added fitness second up and getting out to the longer 1200m sprint journey.

Jockey Patrick Moloney settled the gelding further back in the field than anticipated at Bendigo first up having been positioned prominently in both runs through his maiden campaign at the end of 2014.

Expect the pair to be positioned no worse than midfield however working forward to be positioned a shade more prominently than that might be the right decision.

Lazyaxl has been well supported and is now favourite for the event as of Thursday morning.

The gelding charged home from back in the field to finish fourth at Bendigo over 1000m on resuming.

The son of Bianconi held his own at stakes level through the spring and can make his presence felt back in easier grade.

1200m second up looks suitable and watch for him to be charging home late.

Refill resumes off a generous spell.

The gelding has an excellent first up record and the Weir/Rawiller combination must be respected.

Stablemate Spiritina is also a value runner after hitting the line strongly first up at Cranbourne.

In a competitive race to commence the quaddie, Act Of Valour looks the way to go at Ballarat on Thursday.