Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

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


Philip Hobbs and Johnson White's course winner was second to Kitzbuhel in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having actually seen Kempton third, Wendigo, and fourth, Salver, frank the form given that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two event which might serve as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


White stated: "The form has actually been enhanced given that Christmas, I was extremely surprised when taking a look 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 type and schooled well on Tuesday morning and returns to Ascot which is a course he won well at on his penultimate start. Conditions should fit and he's 10lb greater than anything else on scores so we need to be hopeful.


"We'll get Saturday out the method initially before we think about Cheltenham but at the minute we are considering the Grade One.


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


Thomas Mor has smart course kind (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 stable won with Sporting John back in 2020.


Meanwhile, French Ship, another of the Minehead operation's leading lights, is most likely to check the waters in graded business 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 excellent form and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no reason not to be thinking that way.


"He remains in fantastic kind and schooled over a number of difficulties on Tuesday morning. We couldn't be happier with him and delighted to see how he gets on."