'The world's his oyster' - More Thunder enters Group 1 picture after striking victory in Hungerford

A strong Hungerford Stakes field was unable to contain the classy More Thunder, who justified his promise when producing a spectacular performance to leave his team dreaming of Group 1 glory in the near future.

A winner of three of his four starts for William Haggas, including a gutsy performance to land the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket, the son of Night Of Thunder made that four in five when finding room between Rage Of Bamby and Marvelman to power through and finish two and a quarter lengths clear of Lennox Stakes scorer Witness Stand.

With four other Group winners in the field, connections are entitled to dream about taking their star to the highest level before the season is out and the Saeed Suhail-owned four-year-old was cut to 8-1 (from 16) with Paddy Power for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock next month.

Suhail's racing manager Philip Robinson said: "When you have a nice horse like this you have to take your time. Maybe the Group 2 Park Stakes at Doncaster is next and then we might step him up to a Group 1 later in the year.

"It's a great position to be in. He looks like a Group 1 horse, but in the back of my mind I knew he was progressive. How far we're going to go, I don't know, but I'm now 90 per cent sure he's a Group 1 horse."

More Thunder won over a mile and a half when trained by Sir Michael Stoute and his versatility is what makes him stand out according to Robinson.

He said: "He won over a mile and a quarter, but he's a different horse now. He's matured, he's stocky, and I could see him winning over a mile. It's not out of the equation because Tom [Marquand] keeps saying that's his trip, and I wouldn't say it's beyond him in the right race.

"It's great to have these options. To have a horse who can win a six-furlong sprint and then think they could be in the top-class category over a mile, you don't get many of them that come along. The world's his oyster and he could go on again next year and climb new heights."

More Thunder: beat Lennox winner Witness Stand (near)Credit: Edward Whitaker

Talk of More Thunder contesting Group 1s was also echoed by Marquand, who still believes there is plenty more to come from a horse with entries in both the Champions Sprint Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October.

He said: "Any horse who goes and wins so well in a Group 2 – and in such a tough race like the Hungerford where you've got multiple stakes winners – warrants a step up to Group 1 level. I'm really excited about him. It's nice that after having won at this level you're still thinking about what's to come.

"Newmarket felt such an unideal scenario, but he still managed to get it done and the feeling he gave me was incredible. It felt like something like this was coming."

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