'Super Saturday' at Meydan Provides World Cup Preview

Thunder Snow rumbles back into action March 9 at Meydan as the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) highlights the "Super Saturday" card that serves as a preview of the March 30 Dubai World Cup program.

Thunder Snow, who was famously pulled up while bucking at the start of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), will make his first start since finishing third in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs. Saturday's race will serve as a prep as Thunder Snow takes aim to defend his victory in the Dubai World Cup Presented By Emirates Airline (G1).

A multiple group 1 winner, Thunder Snow has won four group stakes at Meydan, including the 2017 UAE Derby Sponsored By The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2), which punched his ticket to the Louisville classic. While things didn't go well in Kentucky for the Irish-bred son of Helmet, the Godolphin runner placed in an Irish classic and won the group 1 Prix Jean Prat in France that year.

Last year, he joined North America for an epic rivalry through the Maktoum Challenge series before scoring a 5 3/4-length victory in the Dubai World Cup. He followed that score with grade 1 placings on dirt in the United States in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic.  

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor has rested Thunder Snow since the Breeders' Cup, while North America posted easy victories in the first two rounds of the Maktoum Challenge and now takes a break of his own. The Dubawi gelding is awaiting another try at the big race, where a slow start dashed his chances in 2018.

The field for Round 3 also includes Gronkowski, who threw a small scare to Justify  fans before settling for second in the 2018 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), when he was trained by Chad Brown. On Saturday, Gronkowski will be saddled by Salem bin Ghadayer.

The "Super Saturday" program opens with the Mahab al Shimaal Sponsored By Emirates Skywards (G3)—a six-furlong sprint that leads to the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) on World Cup night. The race features the Steve Asmussen-trained Switzerland, a graded stakes winner last year in Maryland, against a global cast that includes Sweden's I Kirk, who exits a dominating win over the track against easier rivals, and Argentina's Tato Key, who finished second in his first spin over the track.

As an early arrival at Meydan, Asmussen said he felt Switzerland was "the right kind of horse to send to Dubai. I think international racing is the direction all horse racing is going, and we're glad to be a part of it." The 5-year-old son of Speightstown  has progressed from a sixth-place finish in his Dubai debut to get home second in a handicap Feb. 14.

The listed Al Bastakiya Sponsored By Emirates.com finds 14 3-year-olds going 9 1/2 furlongs on the dirt in a potential pathway to the March 30 UAE Derby. It's a mixed bag, with U.S.-based trainer Ken McPeek sending out Grecko, with Frankie Dettori up; Asmussen fielding Remington Park dual winner Tone Broke; and successful new ownership group Phoenix Ladies Syndicate cheering on Superior.

The Al Bastikiya is a race where Godolphin is not to be ignored. Charlie Appleby saddles UAE Oaks Sponsored By Range Rover (G3) winner Divine Image, and bin Suroor sends out Estihdaaf.

Turf Sprinters—principally Blue Point—are on display in the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint Sponsored By Arabian Adventures (G3).

The straight dash drew 11 entries, but all eyes will be on Blue Point, the Godolphin runner who was scratched at the gate a year ago in this event. He followed that misadventure with a slow start and ninth-place finish in the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1) in Hong Kong in April, then rebounded to win the King's Stand Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. He was the easiest of winners in the Feb. 14 Meydan Sprint Sponsored By Gulf News (G2) in his warm-up for this engagement.

The Nad Al Sheeba points directly to the Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored By Azizi Developments (G1) on World Cup night, where Stormy Liberal will look to improve on last year's runner-up finish.

A diverse dozen is set for the Burj Nahaar Sponsored By Emirates Holidays (G3), a one-mile tilt on dirt that presages the Godolphin Mile Sponsored By Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City—District One (G2). Nine-year-old Heavy Metal, who won the 2018 Godolphin Mile, is owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. Phoenix Thoroughbreds' 2018 Indiana Derby (G3) winner Axelrod, who was fourth in the Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park in his last outing Dec. 26, also is entered. 

Godolphin atones for the lack of Burj Nahaar runners by fielding four of the 10 set for the Dubai City of Gold Sponsored By Emirates SkyCargo (G2) on the turf. The race is a preview of the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), which is expected to draw some of the world's top turf horses, among them Magical, the filly who pressured Enable through the stretch of the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at Churchill Downs before finishing second.

And the Godolphin presence is even more obvious in the nightcap as the "Boys in Blue" have half the 10-horse field for the Jebel Hatta Sponsored By Emirates Airline, the other group 1 race on the card. The nine furlongs over the turf course is a prep for the Dubai Turf Sponsored By DP World (G1) on the World Cup program, where Japan's star filly Almond Eye is expected to make her first start outside of Japan and first since winning the Japan Cup (G1) in November.