Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor might prove he is the forgotten horse in the beginner chasing department when he heads to Ascot for the 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 actually seen Kempton 3rd, Wendigo, and 4th, Salver, frank the kind given that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two occasion which might function as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


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


"He remains in excellent type and schooled well on Tuesday early morning and returns to Ascot which is a course he won well at on his penultimate start. Conditions should match 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 believe about 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 quite looking forward to the track we are taking."


Thomas Mor has wise 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 likely to check the waters in graded business at Haydock when heading to the north west for the ZYN Rendlesham Hurdle.


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


"It will be competitive but he remains in good kind and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no reason not to be believing that way.


"He remains in fantastic form and schooled over a couple of obstacles on Tuesday morning. We could not be better with him and delighted to see how he gets on."