More Thunder Hangs On For Bunbury Cup Glory
William Haggas will check the water at Group-race level before the season is out with More Thunder following his narrow success in the bet365 Bunbury Cup at Newmarket.
The winner of 2 important six-furlong handicaps on the Rowley Mile in the spring, the four-year-old was beaten a head by Get It when bidding for his hat-trick in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot last month.
More Thunder was a 6-5 preferred to return on the winning trail in this ₤ 100,000 contest and having actually been left last by Tom Marquand early on, he was angled towards the stands' rail to install his challenge and quickened up wisely to challenge for the lead.
More Thunder gets up on the line to land the @bet365 Bunbury Cup pic.twitter.com/KcjDydcCPF
Last year's winner Aalto, a 40-1 shot to effectively defend his crown, recuperated from an uninspiring run of kind to make a genuine race of it inside the last of seven furlongs and the set flashed by the post almost as one, but it was More Thunder who had his head down where it mattered, with the him the winner by a nose.
Haggas stated: "I require to view it again, however for me they didn't go quickly at all and he had a hard time to get momentum. I believe he's much better going quick and Tom can be found in and said 'if you run him over this journey again, they need to go hard'. Six furlongs, he feels, is his finest journey."
More Thunder holds big-race entries in major handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his fitness instructor is eager to see him complete in Group One company at some stage.
William Haggas at Newmarket on Saturday (Joe Giddens/PA)
When asked if he had considered running in the July Cup later on in the afternoon, Haggas included: "We considered it highly, however we likewise wished to increase to seven furlongs at some stage and this was a chance to do so.
"That is why he came here, however we will at a six-furlong stakes race. He simply requires rate this horse, however in six-furlong Group races, you'll see in the July Cup, they do not go sluggish!
"He could run in another handicap, however I believe he is worthy of a shot at an excellent race now."