William Haggas believes More Thunder does not need to find much improvement in order to serve it up to the leading players in the Boyle Sports Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
The son of Night Of Thunder, who bagged Group Two honours at the Berkshire track last year in the Visit Malta Hungerford Stakes, will now bid to open his account at the top table at the same venue in the £400,000 feature on May 16.
Last season the five year old proved a real success story after progressing from winning a handicap at Newmarket off a mark of 87 before ending the term finishing fourth in the Group One Qatar Prix de la Foret at Longchamp rated 117.
And in order to step up his preparations for the Group One test the Saeed Suhail-owned gelding was put through his paces in an early morning work out over seven furlongs at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile under Tom Marquand on Thursday.
Haggas said: “He was a bit rusty, but that is why we came here and he is going straight for the Lockinge because there isn’t a seven furlong race to run him in first. The pattern committee changed the King Richard II Stakes at Leicester, which would have been the perfect fit before the Lockinge, so instead he has had a racecourse gallop.
"You can do as much as you like at home, but these gallops in getting them out and getting them in a scenario which they are not used to is much better for them. He gained confidence and therefore got better last season. He had a terrible draw in the Foret, but he ran a good race and don’t forget he had started his season at the Craven meeting.
“I’ve no idea how much more there is to come. He is rated 117 and the best milers will be about 125 so he has got about eight pounds to find which is not the biggest amount."
Although More Thunder raced over 10 furlongs as a three-year-old it will be the first time he has encountered running over a mile. And while he showed plenty of pace over both six and seven furlongs last season Haggas does not expect going back up in trip to pose any issues to the five-time race winner.
He added: “Sir Michael Stoute, who is one of the best trainers of my lifetime, ran him over a mile and a quarter so you would think he is going to stay the mile without any difficulty, but he also showed lots of speed last year.
“He is funny as he races very lazily then he comes at the end. If you watch the Hungerford Stakes he wasn’t going to win anywhere bar the last bit of the race.
“We will start him in the Lockinge and decide which route to go after that. Seven furlongs is a bad distance to have a good horse because there are only two Group One races for them, but I imagine he will do the City Of York later on.”
Epson on Forest agenda
Also in action in the same exercise was Lake Forest, who will start off in the Listed Pertemps Network Spring Trophy Stakes at Haydock Park on May 9th before stepping up to Group Three company at Epsom Downs on June 6 for the Betfred Tattenham Corner Stakes.
And should all go well in both of those starts Haggas will consider giving the son of No Nay Never, who was gelded over the winter, a second outing in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot after he finished fifth in the mile Group One last year.
Haggas added: “Lake Forest will go for the Tattenham Corner Stakes at Epsom on Derby day. He will warm up in the seven furlong race the week before the Lockinge up at Haydock.
“He is a grand horse and he is a seven furlong horse. He will do Haydock Park and then Epsom and we will then see about going back over a mile for the Queen Anne. He is in good shape and he has been gelded since last year.
“It wasn’t always on the cards to geld him as we thought he might make a stallion, but nobody wanted him. We think if we can improve a little bit for gelding him, which is possible, then he could be a fun horse.”
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