Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid

Thomas Mor could prove he is the forgotten horse in the newbie chasing after division when he heads to Ascot for the Injured Jockeys Fund Ambassadors Programme Reynoldstown 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 third, Wendigo, and fourth, Salver, frank the kind given that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two event which might act as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.


White said: "The type has been increased considering that Christmas, I was extremely amazed 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 excellent 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 match and he's 10lb greater than anything else on rankings so we have to be hopeful.


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


"This has always been the race we wanted for him after Kempton and we're quite eagerly anticipating the track we are taking."


Thomas Mor has smart course type (Andrew Matthews/PA)


Hobbs and White might 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 test 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 however he's in great kind and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no factor not to be believing that way.


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