Handsome pulled up so well after his victory at Moonee Valley last Friday night, Flemington trainer Troy Portelli could not resist the urge to get him back to the races as soon as possible.

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Handsome relished the 2500m to win at Moonee Valley and on Saturday at Flemington will take on an almost identical trip in the Bitalli Handicap.

A son of High Chaparral, the seven-year-old gelding was sent down from Queensland to Portelli in October with his owners looking for more opportunities in distance races.

“I wasn’t too keen to back him up knowing there are more races in store, but he pulled up too well,” said Portelli.

“He is probably at his right mark, an in-town sort of a mark, and we’ll try and sneak as many wins as we can.

“He’s a genuinely easy horse to ride and if we can place him in a spot where he can pop out at around the 700 metres and start rolling, he’s got a massive stride.”

After acceptances on Wednesday, leading jockey Glen Boss found himself without a ride and telephoned Portelli.

“He didn’t have a ride – it was completely my luck,” said Portelli.

Portelli’s other starter on Saturday is four-year-old gelding Prakticality who is coming off a last-start fourth at Kyneton on December 12 heading into the Comic Court Handicap (2000m).

“It’s a massive step-up in class but he is right at his peak,” said Portelli.

He said the race will be a learning curve for him about the horse.

“If we get beat by four lengths with no excuses that means I can drop him back to Wednesday grade – any further, then realistically, it’s back to the country,” Portelli said.

Prakticality ran in the Group One Australian Guineas last season when he pulled up shin sore.

“He was plagued with shin soreness as a three-year-old and in the Australian Guineas the track was really hard that day,” he said.