More Thunder Holds On For Bunbury Cup Glory

William Haggas will evaluate 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 to get back on the winning path 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 obstacle and accelerated up wisely to challenge for the lead.


More Thunder gets up on the line to land the @bet365 Bunbury Cup pic.twitter.com/KcjDydcCPF


In 2015's winner Aalto, a 40-1 shot to effectively protect his crown, recuperated from an uninspiring run of kind to make a genuine race of it inside the last of 7 furlongs and the pair flashed by the post nearly as one, but it was More Thunder who had his head down where it mattered, with the judge verifying him the winner by a nose.


Haggas said: "I need to see it once again, however for me they didn't go quick at all and he struggled to get momentum. I believe he's better going quickly and Tom came in and said 'if you run him over this trip once again, they require to go hard'. Six furlongs, he feels, is his finest journey."


More Thunder holds big-race entries in significant handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his fitness instructor is eager to see him contend in Group One company at some stage.


William Haggas at Newmarket on Saturday (Joe Giddens/PA)


When asked if he had thought of running in the July Cup later on in the afternoon, Haggas included: "We considered it highly, however we also wished to go up to seven furlongs at some phase and this was an opportunity to do so.


"That is why he came here, however we will at a six-furlong stakes race. He just needs rate this horse, however in six-furlong Group races, you'll see in the July Cup, they don't go sluggish!


"He might run in another handicap, however I believe he should have a shot at a good race now."