Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor might prove he is the forgotten horse in the beginner 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 second to Kitzbuhel in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having actually seen Kempton third, Wendigo, and fourth, Salver, frank the type because, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two event which could serve as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


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


"He remains in great form and schooled well on Tuesday morning and goes back to Ascot which is a course he won well at on his penultimate start. Conditions must fit and he's 10lb higher than anything else on ratings so we have to be enthusiastic.


"We'll get Saturday out the way first before we think about Cheltenham however at the moment we are considering the Grade One.


"This has always 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 wise course type (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 steady won with Sporting John back in 2020.


Meanwhile, French Ship, another of the Minehead operation's leading lights, is most likely to evaluate 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 but he remains in excellent 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 kind and schooled over a number of obstacles on Tuesday early morning. We could not be happier with him and thrilled to see how he gets on."