THUNDER Snow became the first ever dual winner of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in a pulsating renewal of the Meydan showpiece.
The five-year-old provided trainer Saeed bin Suroor with a record eighth World Cup success last season – dominating proceedings from the front in the hands of Belgian superstar jockey Christophe Soumillon.
What a finish! Thunder Snow becomes the first dual winner of the Dubai World Cup @MeydanRacing ??????#DubaiWorldCup #DWC19 pic.twitter.com/trSO8tTLSw
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 30, 2019
Thunder Snow rounded off his 2018 campaign by finishing an excellent third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and although he was a beaten odds-on favourite on his return to action three weeks ago, Bin Suroor was confident his charge would put up a staunch defence of his crown.
With Soumillon again in the plate, 4/1 shot Thunder Snow was settled on the heels of the leaders and tracked the strong-travelling North America and the Oisin Murphy-ridden Gronkowski – formerly trained in Britain by Jeremy Noseda – into the home straight.
As North America dropped away, it turned into a straight shootout between Thunder Snow and Gronkowski and while the latter did not go down without a fight, Thunder Snow claimed a historic victory by the narrowest of margins.
SHARING OPTIONS: