MOONEE Valley wants to provide enigmatic champion Chautauqua with a racing lifeline.

The club will invite the Grey Flash to run in the Moir and Manikato Stakes this spring if it can convince Racing Victoria to allow him to race again.

Michael Browell, chief executive of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, said on Tuesday night it was important racing gave one of the sport’s biggest drawcards — a winner of almost $9 million — every chance to resume his career.

Browell spoke at length on Tuesday with Victorian racing officials, the horse’s senior part-owner Rupert Legh and trainer Wayne Hawkes, detailing his plans.

It had appeared as if the eight-year-old’s racing days were over after he again initially refused to jump from the barriers at a specially-arranged barrier trial at Rosehill last Saturday, before catching most of the field and storming home.

But after a plea from the horse’s owners, Racing NSW stewards chose not to enact a life ban, instead providing a slight reprieve with a list of strict conditions.

“We just didn’t want to see a lifetime ban for the horse,” Browell said. “We did advise the connections of Chautauqua that if (he wasn’t banned) we would consider allowing him to run at the Valley.

“He lives to fight another day, whether he turns up in a Moir Stakes and/or a Manikato Stakes remains to be seen, but we wanted to make sure we weren’t going to rob the Spring Carnival of one of its shining lights.”

Browell was unsure how the Racing NSW findings would affect Moonee Valley’s plans — the horse is not permitted to trial in NSW until September 22 and must trial on two separate occasions to the satisfaction of stewards — but he planned to speak with Victorian racing officials this week.

“Our understanding is that these ruling relate to New South Wales racing, and if connections want to consider running at Moonee Valley, we need to determine what the Victorian view is on this,” he said.

“We will have a chat to Racing Victoria and determine their position to work out what needs to happen between now and the Moir Stakes (on Grand Final eve) and now and Manikato night (on Cox Plate eve).”

He said allowing the six-time Group 1 winner — who hasn’t officially raced since last spring, and who has since developed a tendency to stay in the barriers during trials — would be something punters would love to see.

“We are well aware of the risk (of allowing Chautauqua to race), and a lot of this is based on the fact that the horse isn’t a danger to other horses or other jockeys,” he said.

“Buyer beware will be factored into the price that bookmakers will have on him. He might be a genuine $6 chance but he might be $15 on the day because everyone knows the horse might not jump.”

Browell revealed that in discussions with Legh and Hawkes that the Chautauqua camp were confident he can ultimately overcome his barrier antics.