Thunder Snow and New Arrivals Visit Track

Godolphin Racing's group 1 winner Thunder Snow cleared quarantine as expected the morning of May 2 at Churchill Downs, and headed out for his first view of the Twin Spires around 8:30 a.m. EDT to continue his preparations for the May 6 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

The Helmet colt was joined around the same time by Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Gormley and Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) winner Irish War Cry, along with "bubble" horse Royal Mo, who ranks 21st on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard and would need an 11th-hour abdication in order to make the Derby field.

With trainer Saeed bin Suroor en route, Thunder Snow was supervised by Godolphin's Rachel Perry as regular rider Daragh O'Donohoe took the reins.

"It was really nice to get him out because he was getting pretty fresh in that barn," O'Donohoe said. "He's got a very high recovery rate, this horse, so there's not a lot that actually fazes him. He was pretty professional out there on the track. I was very surprised, because Al Quoz is our own private gallops in Dubai, and we don't see a lot of traffic out there. His behavior this morning was exceptional, and he felt good. He floated over the track, and I've no faults on him.

"Because he's been in here in the shed the whole time, we wanted to make sure he had a nice jog before we cantered him off, and it was a good idea because he's never had people so close around him. The boss said to make sure we did a nice jog, make sure he's sound and he's moving well... (we cantered) a mile and a quarter... he was changing his leads at all the important parts, which I'm sure the boss is going to be over the moon with." 

While his high-level win came in the 2016 Criterium International (G1) on turf, a surface over which he made his first six starts, Thunder Snow's two wins in as many outings this season came on dirt at Meydan Racecourse—in the Feb. 11 UAE Two Thousand Guineas Sponsored by District One Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City (G3) and the March 25 UAE Derby Sponsored by The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) to punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby.

The colt also worked at Meydan over the dirt surface there.

"He trains in Al Quoz on the Tapeta track, and then before the (Two Thousand) Guineas we took him to Meydan," O'Donohoe said. "Just a pipe-opener, just to get him a feel on the dirt because obviously he was never on it before. Then we took him twice before the (UAE) Derby... he seems versatile enough, it seems to be he could go on anything."

Galloping about a mile was Irish War Cry, who returned to the track following a day off to ship after breezing April 30 at Fair Hill Training Center. The Curlin   colt pleased trainer Graham Motion with his forward energy in his first trip over the Churchill surface.

"He galloped about a mile; he was pretty fresh today," Motion said. "He had the day off yesterday, he traveled, so I was pretty happy with him. I think his two biggest assets are his stride—he has a tremendous stride on him—and probably his mind, he's got a really good disposition."

Gormley galloped twice around the Churchill oval, while Royal Mo also stretched his legs. John Shirreffs, who trains both horses, went out on a pony and walked the length of the backstretch with Gormley before turning the Malibu Moon   colt loose to gallop.

“He seemed to like it; the rider said he liked it a lot,” Shirreffs said. “I wanted to walk him because we do that every morning. You want to set a little pattern for the horse to follow when he gets here so he’s in as much of a comfort zone as he can have. I wanted to walk him down the track like he does at Santa Anita.

“It was a good opportunity because there was a big crowd along the rail. So that gave him some experience there.”

Steven Sarkowsky and Pam and Martin Wygod's Santa Anita Oaks (G1) winner Paradise Woods was introduced to the Churchill surface Tuesday morning as well, slipping through the six-furlong gap just after 7:00 a.m. with exercise rider Alex Bisono in the tack.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella and his wife Randi looked on as their precocious daughter of Union Rags   went through a nice mile gallop, a move that had Bisono offering “she loved the track” a few minutes later at Barn 42.

Mandella was happy with the exercise and holds high hopes for his charge, who only has three starts to her credit as she steps up to her demanding assignment as the morning-line choice for the May 5 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Frank Angst and Alicia Wincze Hughes contributed to this report.