Thunder Snow Professional in Breeders' Cup Work

Even with his multiple group 1 wins, even though he turned one of the world's richest races into a singular showcase of his ability, Thunder Snow still has had the specter of his worst day hanging over him during his recent Louisville, Ky., residency.

Fair or not, his antics in the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), where he propped and bucked at the start before being pulled up, will be a question his human representatives will have to field in the days leading up to his expected start in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs. And until the gates open in the 10-furlong test and the bay son of Helmet gets to running without insolent behavior, there figures to be a fair amount of breath held within his camp.

Nothing takes the edge off a bad memory, however, like a repeated course of admirable results to draw upon. In his final workout beneath the Twin Spires in preparation for next weekend's $6 million test, Thunder Snow continued to do his part to put his unfortunate Kentucky-based past firmly behind him.

With a spit of rain coming down and a cool tinge to the air, Godolphin's 4-year-old colt went through his final major paces without issue Oct. 26, working seven furlongs in 1:27. Shortly after taking the track around 5:30 a.m., Thunder Snow broke off solo and clocked splits of :13 1/5, :26, :38 2/5, :50 2/5, 1:02 2/5, and 1:14 3/5, galloping out to one mile in 1:41 1/5 with Tommy Burns, traveling assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, watching from the front side.

Friday's workout was the third for Thunder Snow at Churchill since arriving from New York following his runner-up finish in the Sept. 29 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park. That Jockey Club Gold Cup run marked the first time he had started in North America since his aborted run in last year's Kentucky Derby.

Aside from that outing and a couple of other uncharacteristic runs, Thunder Snow has routinely performed at the upper echelon in Europe and beyond. He earned his first group 1 win as a juvenile when he took the Criterium International (G1) in 2016 and earned his Kentucky Derby trip with a pair of dirt victories at Meydan, including a score in the UAE Derby Sponsored By The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2). Following the Kentucky Derby, he bounced back to earn another top-level victory in the 2017 Prix Jean Prat (G1).

In March, he scored his most sublime win when he took the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), finishing 5 3/4 lengths in front of champion West Coast .

Bin Suroor is expected to arrive in Louisville Oct. 28 to oversee the rest of Thunder Snow's Breeders' Cup preparation.

Another expected Classic contender, Mind Your Biscuits, also was among those out early at Churchill Friday morning. The multiple grade 1-winning son of Posse basically delivered a two-minute lick with trainer and co-owner Chad Summers looking on but was given an official time of 1:03 1/5 for five furlongs by the clockers.

"He's a happy horse right now," Summers said. "It's no different than what we've done in Dubai the past two years. It's no different than what we did in the Breeders' Cup two years ago."

One of the first horses to hit the track when it opened at 5:15 a.m. was grade 1 winner Whitmore, who promptly went about making a strong impression before his planned start in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). Working inside of stablemate Meanbone, the gelded son of Pleasantly Perfect breezed four furlongs in :46 1/5, posting splits of :11 2/5, :22 1/5, and: 34, with a gallop out to five furlongs in 1:00 1/5.

"We were trying to beat the rain. We knew the track would be fast and tight," said Ron Moquett, trainer and co-owner of Whitmore. "We weren't as concerned about times as we were getting over (the track) before the rain got here, and we were able to do that. It was a good breeze, and he came back perfect. It worked out really well."

Moquett, who is seeking his first Breeders' Cup win, spoke for many of his brethren in discussing the relief of getting that last major work in without issue.

"It's like you have stages—you have the last work, then tomorrow he gets shod, then you get the last jogging back and forth, and you do him up. It's a lot of that stuff. We're basically mothers pushing back sharp objects from the corner of the table."

Other Breeders' Cup contenders on the Friday tab at Churchill included Seeking the Soul—who needs defections to get into the Classic but has second preference in the Dirt Mile (G1)—going four furlongs in :47 3/5; Mr. Money (Juvenile, G1) going five furlongs in a bullet :59 3/5; Chelsea Cloisters going four furlongs in :50 4/5 in company with Shang Shang Shang (Juvenile Turf Sprint) who went :51 2/5 on the turf; Forty Under (Juvenile Turf, G1T) going a half-mile in :52 1/5 on the turf; and Pakhet (Juvenile Fillies Turf, G1T) working four furlongs in :51 2/5 on the turf.