Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid
Thomas Mor might show he is the forgotten horse in the newbie going after department 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 second to Kitzbuhel in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having seen Kempton third, Wendigo, and fourth, Salver, frank the kind given that, are resilient ahead of this Grade Two event which might function as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.
White said: "The kind has been improved given that Christmas, I was really amazed 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 kind and schooled well on Tuesday early morning and returns to Ascot which is a course he won well at on his penultimate start. Conditions need to suit and he's 10lb higher than anything else on scores so we need to be enthusiastic.
"We'll get Saturday out the way first before we think of Cheltenham however at the moment we are thinking about the Grade One.
"This has constantly been the race we wanted for him after Kempton and we're very much looking forward to 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 stable won with Sporting John back in 2020.
Meanwhile, French Ship, another of the Minehead operation's leading lights, is most 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 instead of the Pertemps qualifier at Wincanton," continued White.
"It will be competitive however he remains in excellent type and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no reason not to be believing that method.
"He's in terrific kind and schooled over a couple of obstacles on Tuesday early morning. We could not be better with him and thrilled to see how he gets on."