THUNDER REIGNS AT SAINT-CLOUD
Returning off a fourth in Newmarket's G1 Dewhurst S. earlier this month, Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) provided a timely boost for Saeed bin Suroor's branch of the Godolphin operation with a dominant victory in Sunday's G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. Breaking sharply to sit in second as Capchop (Fr) (Captain Chop {Fr}) unseated French champion jockey-elect Pierre-Charles Boudot leaving the gates, the 14-5 second choice fanned wide into the straight and was unrelenting once taking control with a quarter mile remaining to easily defeat South Seas (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) by an impressive five lengths. Susan Magnier's 21-10 favourite Promise to be True (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) kept on well without seriously threatening to finish 1 3/4 lengths adrift in third. “He bounced back nicely from his run in the Dewhurst and this is a lovely result,” reported Godolphin's Hugh Anderson. “There has been a virus in the stable so it has been a difficult season and this is great for [trainer] Saeed [bin Suroor] and the team. I don't yet know if he'll spend the winter in Newmarket or Dubai, but he ought to stay a mile next year and the [G1 2000] Guineas is an obvious early-season target.”
Sunday, Saint-Cloud, France
CRITERIUM INTERNATIONAL-G1, €250,000, SCD, 10-30, 2yo, c/f, 7fT, 1:28.20, sf.
1–#@&THUNDER SNOW (IRE), 126, c, 2, by Helmet (Aus)
1st Dam: Eastern Joy (GB), by Dubai Destination
2nd Dam: Red Slippers, by Nureyev
3rd Dam: Morning Devotion, by Affirmed
O-Godolphin; B-Darley (IRE); T-Saeed bin Suroor; J-Christophe Soumillon. €142,850. Lifetime Record: MGSP-Eng, 6-2-2-0, €268,859. *1/2 to Ihtimal (Ire) (Shamardal), MGSW & MG1SP-Eng & GSW-UAE, $554,857; First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), GSW-Eng; and Always Smile (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), SW & MG1SP-Eng, $217,288.
2–South Seas (Ire), 126, c, 2, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Let It Be Me, by Mizzen Mast. (€170,000 Wlg '14 GOFNOV; 145,000gns Ylg '15 TATOCT). O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Stonepark Farms (IRE); T-Andrew Balding. €57,150.
3–Promise To Be True (Ire), 122, f, 2, Galileo (Ire)–Sumora (Ire), by Danehill. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €28,575.
Margins: 5, 1 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 2.80, 4.90, 2.10.
Also Ran: Tresorier (GB), Boos (Fr), Mate Story (Ire), King of Spades (Fr), Bay of Poets (Ire). DNF: Capchop (Fr).
Thunder Snow got off the mark in his Leicester debut May 31, but met with defeat in four subsequent starts. Sixth in Royal Ascot's June 14 G2 Coventry S., he was runner-up in Goodwood's July 26 G2 Vintage S. and Doncaster's Sept. 10 G2 Champagne S., and lined up for this first overseas venture returning off a fourth in the Oct. 8 G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket. His victory here provided Godolphin and Saeed bin Suroor with a first renewal while Christophe Soumillon claimed a third triumph after wins aboard Dalakhani (Ire) Darshaan {GB}) in 2002 and Carlotamix (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}) in 2005.
South Seas finished two places behind Thunder Snow's fourth in the Dewhurst and again gave best to his old foe here. “I'm delighted with that,” expressed trainer Andrew Balding. “He's improving all the time and needs further already so we're looking forward to next season with him.”
Thunder Snow is a half-brother to G2 May Hill S. victress Ihtimal (Ire) (Shamardal), who also hit the board in the G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Fillies' Mile, G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner First Victory (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), and the stakes-winning G1 Sun Chariot S. and G1 Falmouth S. placegetter Always Smile (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). His G2 Sun Chariot S.-winning granddam Red Slippers (Nureyev), herself the dam of G1 Prix de Diane winner West Wind (GB) (Machiavellian), is a half-sister to European champion distaffer and dual Classic winner Balanchine (Storm Bird), and a full-sister to MG1SP G2 Jockey Club S. victor Romanov (Ire). Thunder Snow is also kin to a yearling filly by Shamardal.
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