Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor is looking to Thunder Snow to continue his excellent run of international results in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
The trainer has been in fine form on a worldwide scale with Royal Meeting landing a French Group One on Sunday, while both Best Solution and Benbatl have struck at the highest level in Australia in recent weeks, with the latter also chasing home record-breaker Winx in the Cox Plate over the weekend.
Thunder Snow was an impressive winner of the Dubai World Cup at Meydan back in March and has been trained for this race, making his comeback in the Juddmonte International at York before finishing second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in his two prep runs.
The Helmet colt enjoyed a spin around the Kentucky track on Monday morning and Bin Suroor is anticipating a bold show for the Godolphin team.
He said: “I’ve always liked the qualities of this horse.
“He has a good turn of foot which you need in the race. He’s always been a very sound horse, healthy and happy. He gives you everything and he has a big heart. These are the things I like about him.
“When I first took him on to the dirt in Dubai, it was quite scary the fractions he clocked and since then everything has been geared towards preparing him for the Classic.
“Sheikh Mohammed thought the best course was to give him a break and then get him ready for this.
“He lost two shoes in the Juddmonte, but came back well to run a very good race at Belmont in the Jockey Club, where he finished a very good second.
“Mentally I’m very pleased with him and he seems to have put on some condition. He is fit and ready to go.”
Connections will be hoping he fares better than the last time he ran at Churchill Downs, when he pulled up after leaving the stalls in the 2017 Kentucky Derby.
Thunder Snow was not the only British-trained contender on show on Monday, with the headline acts of Enable and Roaring Lion also strutting their stuff.
