Thomas Mor Headed For Reynoldstown En Route To Festival Bid
Thomas Mor could prove he is the forgotten horse in the newbie chasing 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 Kitzbuhel in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase on Boxing Day and having actually seen Kempton 3rd, Wendigo, and fourth, Salver, frank the form given that, connections are resilient ahead of this Grade Two event which might function as a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.
White said: "The type has actually been improved because Christmas, I was really shocked when looking at the Brown Advisory wagering to see he is 100-1 and some of the horses that have lagged him and not too far in front are single figures.
"He remains in good 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 should suit and he's 10lb greater than anything else on rankings so we need to be confident.
"We'll get Saturday out the method initially before we consider Cheltenham but at the moment we are thinking of the Grade One.
"This has constantly 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 wise 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 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 business at Haydock when heading to the north west for the ZYN Rendlesham Hurdle.
"He'll most likely go to Haydock instead of the at Wincanton," continued White.
"It will be competitive but he's in excellent form and he's run well at Haydock in the past, so there's no reason not to be believing that method.
"He's in great form and schooled over a couple of obstacles on Tuesday morning. We couldn't be better with him and delighted to see how he gets on."