Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor could show he is the forgotten horse in the beginner 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 2nd to in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having seen Kempton 3rd, Wendigo, and 4th, Salver, frank the type given that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two occasion which could act as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


White stated: "The type has been boosted given that Christmas, I was really shocked when taking a look at the Brown Advisory wagering to see he is 100-1 and some of the horses that have actually lagged him and not too far in front are single figures.


"He remains in excellent 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 need to fit and he's 10lb greater than anything else on scores so we have to be confident.


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


"This has always been the race we had in mind for him after Kempton and we're quite looking forward to the track we are taking."


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


Hobbs and White could likewise 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 likely to evaluate the waters in graded business 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 good type and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no factor not to be believing that method.


"He's in fantastic type and schooled over a couple of obstacles on Tuesday early morning. We couldn't be happier with him and excited to see how he gets on."