Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor could show he is the forgotten horse in the novice chasing after 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 kind considering that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two occasion which might serve as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


White stated: "The type has actually been increased given that Christmas, I was very amazed when looking at the Brown Advisory wagering to see he is 100-1 and some of the horses that have been behind him and not too far in front are single figures.


"He remains in great form 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 should suit and he's 10lb greater than anything else on ratings so we need to be confident.


"We'll get Saturday out the method initially before we think about Cheltenham however 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 very much anticipating the track we are taking."


Thomas Mor has wise 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 test 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 good form and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no reason not to be believing that way.


"He's in fantastic type and schooled over a number of difficulties on Tuesday morning. We could not be happier with him and thrilled to see how he gets on."