Thunder Snow Upsets Dubai World Cup in Record Time

As the end result became clear, the roar of the crowd escalated, smiles brightened faces, and programs were thrown in the air in celebration.

On a banner night for the home team in Godolphin blue, Thunder Snow provided the exclamation point March 31 with the racing operation's seventh victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) at Meydan.

After an unexpected poor break from likely pacesetter North America, the 2017 UAE Derby Sponsored By The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) winner broke well from post 10 and briefly dueled with heavy favorite West Coast before he cleared and got over to the rail. Although West Coast was never far behind through much of the race, late in the second turn the favorite couldn't keep up.

With a quick kick at the top of the lane under jockey Christophe Soumillon, Thunder Snow opened a clear advantage on the field and extended it to the wire to win by 5 3/4 lengths and finish the 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) race in a track-record time of 2:01.38.

The absence of North America near the pace had a significant impact on the race. Thunder Snow, a 4-year-old Helmet colt, got away with tepid 200-meter fractions of :25.73, :50.43, and 1:13.89.

"On the dirt with him, he usually doesn't have the speed for that," Soumillon said. "But today when I came to the turn, he changed (leads) perfectly, and I had a good feeling that nobody could catch me at that time."

West Coast's jockey, Javier Castellano, got a similar impression at the quarter pole. When Castellano rode the colt back to the walking ring in front of the Meydan grandstand, he looked down at West Coast's trainer, Bob Baffert, then shook his head and said, "He ran good. The other one—the other one was too good."

"I put the horse right next to him, to hook up with him (at the quarter pole), but (Thunder Snow) was best," Castellano said. "(Soumillon) saw me, he asked the horse, and he took off."

West Coast kept on trying to the wire, where he edged stablemate Mubtaahij by a neck for second. Pavel and Forever Unbridled also loomed on the outside behind West Coast with 300 meters to run, but they lacked any late punch to make up ground.

"I wish he won the race, but sometimes you have to hook up with the best horses in the world, and that's why the race was so tough today," Castellano said. "The other horse was coming up, but my horse didn't get tired. He fought hard for second place."

"My horses ran well," Baffert added. "That Thunder Snow—he ran huge, that horse."

Winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who claimed his eighth Dubai World Cup victory, heaped praise on his jockey for taking control of the race when he got the opportunity.

"The winner is the jockey," bin Suroor said. "He made the horse win the race. We drew (post 10), but before the race I talked to him and said, 'He can be handy, but if he jumps, you can take the lead early, and you'll have a better chance to win the race.' He is the best of the best."

"In a race, you can't really predict anything," Soumillon added. "It just depends how 10 horses jump at the same time. ... I was a half-length in front of everyone, and I knew I had to make an effort to hit the front and stay on the fence. When I saw nobody pushing on the inside, I was really surprised and quite happy, because I knew I probably earned a few lengths there."

Another 1 3/4 lengths behind the Baffert pair came Pavel in fourth, followed by Forever Unbridled, Awardee, Furia Cruzada, Gunnevera, Talismanic, and North America to complete the order of finish.

"When he missed the break, I knew it was not going to be his night," said North America's trainer, Satish Seemar. "He was loaded second, and although he's a gentle giant, he can jiggle around in the stalls, which is what happened. He has never had to take the kickback, because he has always dominated, and that's why being drawn in gate 2 was important."

Thunder Snow has never finished worse than second at Meydan, where last year he won the UAE Derby after he took the UAE Two Thousand Guineas Sponsored By District One Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City (G3).

This year, he prepped for the World Cup in a series of starts at Meydan. He finished second in the Jan. 11 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 Presented By Longines Gents Master Collection (G2), won the Feb. 8 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Sponsored By Gulf News (G2) by a neck over North America, and claimed the runner-up spot in the March 10 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1), 5 1/4 lengths behind North America.

"We were disappointed with him when he finished second on Super Saturday," bin Suroor said. "We knew he was better than that."

Thunder Snow, who infamously bucked at the start and did not finish in the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), will get some time off, bin Suroor said, but the assembled media immediately asked whether the three-time group 1 winner would head back to Churchill Downs for the 2018 Breeders' Cup in November.

"(The only thing) on my mind was to win the World Cup," bin Suroor said. "Now we won the race, so we'll give him a break and keep the options open for European racing, or maybe we'll take him to America. ... We'll see how the horse comes back after this race, but he could use a break. We'll keep him fresh for the second half of the season. We'll try to find a race for him in America. We'd love to go back."