Visit Malta Hungerford Stakes
Group 2, Newbury 15:35
£125,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
7f, Class 1   
Saturday 16th August 2025

SureWIn

1 More Thunder 6/4F
2 Witness Stand 13/2
3 Marvelman 12/1
10 ran Distances: 2¼l, hd, 3¾l
Time: 1m 21.67s (fast by 1.13s)

More Thunder kept his summer storm rolling at Newbury, surging through late to win in decisive style.

Save for that agonising near-miss in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, William Haggas’ four-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong this season. This was win number four of a campaign that has seen him climb seamlessly from handicaps into the rarefied air of Group company.

The market made him a warm order at 6-4 after Bunbury Cup success last month, and Tom Marquand was happy to bide his time at the rear as Hackwood hero Rage Of Bamby and Lennox Stakes scorer Witness Stand cut out the running. They had the field strung along into the final stages—but that was when the picture began to shift.

Marquand pressed the button, and More Thunder answered. Slipping through gaps, rolling into top gear, he swept past inside the final half furlong, and in a matter of strides the contest was done. A devastating burst, two and a quarter lengths clear of a rallying Witness Stand, with Marvelman another head away in third.

“He’s progressing well and I was very pleased with him today, he won well,” said Haggas afterwards. “I still don’t really know what his best trip is, but he seems to be getting better anyway and he was strong at the finish today, he wasn’t stopping.

“I think he’s quite effective if not at his best on slower ground and he’s been fun. He’s done very well and beat a horse who won a good race last time, so hopefully the form is strong and he’s won comfortably so I’m delighted.”

With Group Two honours now banked, More Thunder’s next assignment could see him elevated further. He holds a raft of lofty entries, from six furlongs up to a mile, and his trainer hinted that the top level may soon beckon.

“I would say all options are open for him,” Haggas added. “We’re in everything from six furlongs to a mile and he’s won a Group Two now so we’ve got to go for another Group Two or a Group One and it will just depend on how many more races we’re going to give him this season.

“He won at both the Craven and the Guineas meeting so he has been on the go for a while so we will have to see.

“We need to make plans, will he retire or race again as a five-year-old? So we’ve got lots to think about – but it’s nice thinking.”

BoyleSports

Hungerford Stakes
£125,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 7f, Class 1
10 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (3)    More Thunder 4 9-8 William Haggas Tom Marquand 6/4F
2 (2) 2¼ Witness Stand 4 9-11 Dr Richard Newland & Jamie Insole Billy Loughnane 13/2
3 (9) hd Marvelman 3 9-3 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 12/1
4 (4) 3¾ Rage Of Bamby 5 9-5 Eve Johnson Houghton Charles Bishop 11/1
5 (6) nk Fair Angellica 4 9-5 Richard Hughes Finley Marsh 25/1
6 (8) 1¼ Spy Chief 3 9-3 John & Thady Gosden Robert Havlin 15/2
7 (10) ½ Great Generation 4 9-5 Marco Botti Marco Ghiani 12/1
8 (5) 2½ Alyanaabi 4 9-8 Owen Burrows Jim Crowley 20/1
9 (7) nk King's Gamble 4 9-8 Ralph Beckett Rossa Ryan 5/1
10 (1) 4¾ Duty First 3 9-0 Archie Watson Hollie Doyle 28/1