More Thunder
More Thunder was one of the most obvious eye-catchers of the weekend, he is surely a Group 1 winner in waiting, but the two key questions now are, will he win a Group 1 race this season and, if he will, where will that be?
The RaceiQ sectionals from Saturday's race confirm what your eyes tell you. They didn't go fast early, the winner's finishing speed was over 111% of overall speed, which is significantly higher than the 106% par. More Thunder was back in the field early on, that's the way he is usually ridden, and he finished off his race best of all. He was fastest through each of the last two furlongs, and his finishing speed percentage of over 113% was the highest in the field by a fair way.
William Haggas' horse entries give an insight into his versatility, including, as they do, the Celebration Mile and the Sussex Stakes over a mile, the City of York Stakes over seven furlongs and the Juddmonte International over 10 and a half. He has won over distances from six furlongs to 10 and a half furlongs, and he is at his best when he can come off a strong pace. The QE2 at Ascot on Champions Day would be a good end-of-season target, he does go well at Ascot, and his hold-up style of racing is usually at asset there. He would be really interesting too dropped back down to seven furlongs. A fast-run seven furlongs could be optimal for him. He has never run at York, but his trainer does really well there, and the Night Of Thunder horse would be of interest if he did line up in the City of York Stakes over that trip at the Ebor meeting. He would also be of interest if he went back to Longchamp for the Prix de la Foret over that trip on Arc de Triomphe day. He did really well to get as close as he did in that race last year from stall 16 of 16, a race in which a wide draw is usually a significant disadvantage.
Ascot, 11th July 2026
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