Horses to follow: Future Group horses with entries in handicaps

MORE THUNDER (William Haggas)

There’s always one in the Wokingham and more often than not there are two or three. That is, sprinters who look destined to be plying their trade outside of the handicap ranks by the end of the year.

This season the blindingly obvious contender is More Thunder. Trained by William Haggas for owner Saeed Suhail, the four-year-old had shown plenty of under-the-surface promise for the recently-retired Sir Michael Stoute, but Haggas looks to have unlocked that bit extra.

In fairness, he’d only ever run in two handicaps as a three-year-old and they both came over distances in excess of a mile. In fact, he’d never run over shorter than nine furlongs during his time with Stoute and dropping to sprinting he’s looked a complete revelation this term.

A visually impressive win from well off the pace in mid-April was backed up by a more tenacious victory, when darting between rivals, over the same six furlongs of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile at the Guineas meeting. The way he got up late that day suggested he's going to love the stiff finish at Ascot.

Effectively running off a 6lb higher mark (98) in the Wokingham, having carried a 5lb penalty last time, More Thunder has been given a Group 3 option at Leopardstown on June 12 so that sort of race is clearly already in connections’ minds. One more big-field handicap run must be pretty tempting though and it’s no surprise he heads the market for the day-five cavalry charge at the Royal meeting.

HIPOP DE LOIRE (Willie Mullins)

Hipop De Loire went into all the notebooks under the sun when running on for fifth in last year’s Sky Bet Ebor at York and although not seen since, it would be foolish to forget about Willie Mullins’ overseas import, who started out in Poland before recording some smart form on the level in Germany during 2022 and 2023.

The Ebor last August was his Flat debut for Mullins, after a near-miss over hurdles at Galway earlier that month, and whether it’s the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot or a race like the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle, for which he already holds an entry, this eight-year-old could prove to be ahead of the assessor, even from a fairly lofty perch of 106.

Mullins ran Vauban in the Irish St Leger before his trip to the Melbourne Cup last year and that sort of Group 1 could be a realistic target if things go to plan with Hipop De Loire beforehand.

WATCH: Hipop De Loire's eyecatching effort in the Ebor

SKUKUZA (Ed Dunlop)

There is a weather caveat here as Skukuza picked up an injury when second to Mickley in last year's Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot and whether they'd want to run him again on rattling-quick ground in the Hunt Cup has to be a major question.

However, he's got all the hallmarks of an unexposed, improving miler who might well be more than a handicapper based on his recent success under Ryan Moore at the Curragh's Irish Guineas meeting.

Held up early on by Ryan Moore who was housed out wide in stall 18, the son of Blue Point scythed down the outside of the pack throughout the final two furlongs and was well on top at the line, winning by two and a quarter lengths - going away.

He was conceding lumps of weight to the runner-up, Serialise, a progressive type herself, and it was only his fourth career start over a mile. It's unlikely he'll prove to be top class but Skukuza looks bound for pattern company before long and it could take a very well-treated rival to get the better of him in the Hunt Cup, especially if there's rain around in mid-June.

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