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.

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.