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 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 preferred to return on the winning path in this ₤ 100,000 contest and having actually been dropped out last by Tom Marquand early on, he was angled towards the stands' rail to install his difficulty 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


In 2015 Aalto, a 40-1 shot to successfully defend his crown, bounced back from an uninspiring run of form to make a real race of it inside the last of 7 furlongs and the pair flashed by the post almost 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 stated: "I need to enjoy 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 quick and Tom came in and said 'if you run him over this trip once again, they need to go hard'. Six furlongs, he feels, is his finest trip."


More Thunder holds big-race entries in significant handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his fitness instructor is keen to see him contend 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 added: "We considered it strongly, but we also wanted to go up to seven furlongs at some stage and this was an opportunity to do so.


"That is why he came here, however we will at a six-furlong stakes race. He simply requires speed this horse, but in six-furlong Group races, you'll see in the July Cup, they do not go sluggish!


"He might run in another handicap, but I think he should have a shot at a great race now."