More Thunder Holds On For Bunbury Cup Glory
William Haggas will test 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 valuable 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 favourite to return on the winning path in this ₤ 100,000 contest and having been out last by Tom Marquand early on, he was angled towards the stands' rail to mount his obstacle and quickened up smartly 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 safeguard his crown, bounced back from an uninspiring run of kind to make a real race of it inside the last of 7 furlongs and the pair flashed by the post practically as one, but it was More Thunder who had his head down where it mattered, with the judge validating him the winner by a nose.
Haggas stated: "I require to view it again, but for me they didn't go quickly at all and he struggled to get momentum. I think he's better going quickly and Tom can be found in and said 'if you run him over this trip again, they need to go hard'. Six furlongs, he feels, is his best trip."
More Thunder holds big-race entries in significant handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his fitness instructor is eager to see him complete in Group One business at some phase.
William Haggas at Newmarket on Saturday (Joe Giddens/PA)
When asked if he had actually believed about running in the July Cup later in the afternoon, Haggas included: "We considered it strongly, but we also desired to increase to 7 furlongs at some stage and this was an opportunity to do so.
"That is why he came here, however we will have a crack at a six-furlong stakes race. He simply requires pace this horse, however in six-furlong Group races, you'll see in the July Cup, they don't go sluggish!
"He could run in another handicap, however I believe he deserves a shot at an excellent race now."