Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor could show he is the forgotten horse in the beginner chasing after division when he heads to Ascot for the Injured Jockeys Fund Ambassadors Programme Reynoldstown Novices' Chase on Saturday.


Philip Hobbs and Johnson White's course winner was 2nd to Kitzbuhel in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having seen Kempton 3rd, Wendigo, and 4th, Salver, frank the type since, connections are buoyant ahead of this Grade Two occasion which might function as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


White stated: "The type has actually been enhanced because Christmas, I was very surprised when looking at the Brown Advisory wagering to see he is 100-1 and a few of the horses that have actually lagged him and not too far in front are single figures.


"He remains in great kind and schooled well on Tuesday early morning and goes back to Ascot which is a course he won well at on his penultimate start. Conditions must match and he's 10lb greater than anything else on rankings so we need to be .


"We'll get Saturday out the method first before we think of Cheltenham but at the moment we are thinking about the Grade One.


"This has constantly been the race we had in mind for him after Kempton and we're quite anticipating the track we are taking."


Thomas Mor has smart course form (Andrew Matthews/PA)


Hobbs and White could also be represented at Ascot by the well-regarded Starzand in the opening Betfair Novices' Hurdle, a race the steady won with Sporting John back in 2020.


Meanwhile, French Ship, another of the Minehead operation's leading lights, is likely to test the waters in graded company at Haydock when heading to the north west for the ZYN Rendlesham Hurdle.


"He'll probably go to Haydock rather than the Pertemps qualifier at Wincanton," continued White.


"It will be competitive however he remains in great form and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no factor not to be believing that method.


"He remains in excellent form and schooled over a number of hurdles on Tuesday early morning. We could not be happier with him and delighted to see how he gets on."