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Thunder Snow took a first Group One of 2017 for Saeed bin Suroor

Thunder Snow (Credit: Dubai Racing Club//Andrew Watkins)
Image: Thunder Snow wins the UAE Derby (Credit: Dubai Racing Club//Andrew Watkins)

Thunder Snow gained a deserved first Group One success of the season after a couple of solid efforts in defeat when making all the running in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly.

The Godolphin-owned colt, placed in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James's Palace Stakes after a forgettable trip to the Kentucky Derby, benefited from an astute ride by Christophe Soumillon.

Soumillon dictated affairs from the outset after Lightupthenight was extremely slow to leave the stalls and was allowed an easy lead.

In the meantime, the unbeaten Trais Fluors was held up last of the main bunch of four until Vincent Cheminaud asked him for his effort, but it was too late to claw back the deficit.

The Saeed bin Suroor-trained Thunder Snow had enough in hand, despite a slight stumble late on, to claim the one-mile feature.

"After Ascot he has felt good and this race was there for him. The plan was to make the running as we wanted a good pace for him," said Bin Suroor of the length and a quarter winner.

"There are three races we have in mind for him for the future. There is the Juddmonte (International) and the QEII and the Prix Jacques le Marois in France.

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"Those are the races on our agenda for him, but we will see how the horse is when he comes back from this race and talk to Sheikh Mohammed in about a week's time."

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