Thunder Rock none the worse for Cheltenham disappointment

Ashley Iveson
December 18, 2023 2:57 pm

‘That’s horses and we know he hasn’t lost his ability overnight’.

Olly Murphy could consider sending Thunder Rock back over hurdles later in the season following his disappointing performance in Saturday’s December Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Having got the better of subsequent Coral Gold Cup runner-up Mahler Mission on his seasonal debut at Carlisle, Thunder Rock lined up as favourite for the weekend’s feature handicap at Prestbury Park, but the alarm bells were ringing from an early stage and he was eventually pulled up by Sean Bowen.

Murphy reported the seven-year-old to be none the worse on Monday morning, but admits he could be entering the last-chance saloon as far as his chasing career is concerned.

“He’s absolutely fine, the writing was on the wall very early. He got into no rhythm and jumped very ordinary and after he jumped two or three (fences) he was in awful trouble,” he said.

“We’ll put a line through that and give him another run over fences in three or four weeks’ time, but I’m not sure where yet. I have toyed with the idea of going back over hurdles and if things don’t got to plan the next day he’ll be reverting back to smaller obstacles.”

While Thunder Rock’s class shone through in a four-runner race at Carlisle last month, Murphy feels the hustle and bustle of a big-field handicap is perhaps not his bag.

He added: “He’s not very big and while I didn’t think he’d do what he did on Saturday, it’s not the biggest surprise to me.

“We’ll dust ourselves down, get him back in full work and see what’s what, but his performance wasn’t a reflection of his ability or his health or anything like that. He just didn’t jump with any fluency and when you do that in those big handicaps you’re on the back foot straight away.

“When you have a long-term plan like that and you can see it’s not working out from an early stage it’s extremely frustrating, but that’s horses and we know he hasn’t lost his ability overnight.”

Murphy did enjoy better fortune at Cheltenham on Friday, with Go Dante providing his owner Barbara Hester with a first winner at Prestbury Park.

The seven-year-old retains the option of turning out quickly for the GBP 150,000 Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot on Saturday after being left in at the confirmation stage, but he appears unlikely to line up.

“We’ll see what the handicapper does (on Tuesday), but I’d it’s unlikely,” said the trainer.

“He came out of Saturday well. I’d say it’s very unlikely he’ll run again this weekend, but if you’re not in you can’t win.”