Dubai Carnival beads: Thunder-ous night for Godolphin

Godolphin’s Thunder Snow didn’t take long to answer the dirt question in last Saturday’s UAE 2000 Guineas (G3). As soon as the Saeed bin Suroor colt broke alertly, showed his typical early foot to track the pace, and traveled smartly, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Here was the Criterium International (G1) romper, representing the best formlines that the European juveniles had to offer in 2016, against a group with some potential but short on accomplishments. If the dirt didn’t beat him, no one else would. The dirt wasn’t beating him; rather, he was attacking it with enthusiasm.

Flicking aside Charlie Appleby’s promising Capezzano rounding the far turn, Thunder Snow had one more rival to dispose of, the Triple Crown-nominated maiden Bee Jersey, who rushed up to challenge swinging for home. But Thunder Snow had not yet begun to run. Once Christophe Soumillon set him down, he stretched clear in a few strides.

Now the only question left was, how far? The margin was 5 3/4 lengths, and could have been more if Soumillon desired. Thunder Snow was on cruise control the rest of the way, accounting for his final time of 1:38.38 for the metric mile. No reason to set records when this was his first start of the year, with bigger targets forthcoming.

 

“Saeed told me that Thunder Snow had galloped on the dirt here a few times and seemed to enjoy it,” Soumillon told godolphin.com, “so it was better to be a bit more confident. 

“The way he was running on heavy ground in France, it looked like he could get out of it quite easily, so I was not really worried about the dirt. When I cantered down to the start, he was showing a lovely action on it.
 
“I knew he was better than every other horse in the race and, if you can have some good gate speed and get out of the kickback, you already have a great chance.”

In the postrace interview on camera, Soumillon praised Thunder Snow as a potential champion in Europe this season. That was toned down to “very nice horse” in the published quotes, but the Belgian ace obviously likes him. 

Thunder Snow is quite an advertisement for his young sire, triple Australian Group 1 winner Helmet. He also became the second UAE classic winner produced by his dam, Eastern Joy. Thunder Snow's half-sister, the ill-fated Ihtimal, turned the UAE 1000 Guineas/Oaks (G3) double (on the old Tapeta) in 2014.

Since the rest were outclassed on paper, and few put up any sort of effort, Thunder Snow didn’t have to perform up to his best to turn this into a procession. The competition figures to be stronger in the ensuing jewels of the UAE Triple Crown, the Al Bastakiya on Super Saturday March 4, and especially the UAE Derby (G2), with its trove of 100 Kentucky Derby points to the winner, on World Cup night March 25.

While none of the locals is as highly rated as Thunder Snow, there were a couple of notable absentees from the Guineas. Bee Jersey was previously beaten five lengths by Mike de Kock’s exciting Fawree, who’s awaiting the Al Bastakiya. To be fair, Bee Jersey added a tongue tie for the Guineas, and it’s quite possible that he ran a lot better with the equipment change for Doug Watson. Also missing from the Guineas was the trial winner Fly at Dawn, who had to scratch Saturday after bashing his head and knocking out some teeth.

As far as the international shippers go, Great Britain could have a useful contender in Marco Botti’s Zumurudee, a Triple Crown nominee who’s reportedly eyeing the Al Bastakiya. But the bigger dangers are likely to emerge from Japan. We’ll know more after Sunday’s Hyacinth S. at Tokyo, featuring such UAE Derby nominees as Epicharis, Foggy Night, and Levante Lion.

Blue chip stock: Bin Suroor completed a double on the card courtesy of Prize Money, a fine young stayer in the making.

Overcoming the top weight of 132 pounds, and a wide trip from post 14, the Authorized gelding prevailed in an about 1 1/2-mile turf handicap. Slow-starting Rembrandt Van Rijn finished fast to grab second (in receipt of seven pounds from Prize Money), continuing his string of Carnival placings. Italian celebrity Dylan Mouth was relegated to third after what shaped as an ideal stalk-and-pounce trip.