DUBAI 1 April 2018: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow, trained by Saeed bin Surour and saddled by Christophe Soumillon, made history on Saturday winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup race at Meydan Racecourse.
Saturday’s 2000 metre main event, the Dubai World Cup, was sponsored by Emirates Airline.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; and a number of other sheikhs, senior officials and VIP guests watched the 23rd edition of Dubai World Cup, said Wam.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed received the gold cup from Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.
Commenting on the thrilling victory, Sheikh Mohammed said,” It was a pleasant surprise.”
.@godolphin’s Thunder Snow snatches the #DubaiWorldCup title… @HHShkMohd celebrates this brilliant achievement of winning the world’s richest horse race pic.twitter.com/1rQ78E4dQJ
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 31, 2018
Dubai World Cup 2018 drew participation of 118 horses from across the world, including the host UAE, United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Ireland, China and Japan.
More than 60,000 fans of horse racing also watched the event.
Dubai World Cup has become one of the highly important cultural and sporting events in the UAE.
With $30 million in prize money on offer, the Dubai World Cup meeting is by far the richest horseracing event anywhere on the planet.
In 2017, the winner was Juddmonte Farm’s Arrogate, a four-year-old grey colt trained in the United States.
The stunning 7-year-old grey Tallaab Al Khalediah extended his unbeaten record to five with an impressive performance in the US $1 million Dubai Kahayla Classic sponsored by Mubadala, which allowed him to become the first Saudi Arabian trained horse to add his name to this very important race in the Purebred Arabian racing calendar.
The Alain de Royer Dupre-trained Vazirabad entered the history books when becoming the first thoroughbred ever to win on three Dubai World Cup nights.
What a performance! Thunder Snow causes an upset in the Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline and it’s a fourth winner on the night for Godolphin. #DubaiWorldCup #DWC18
For more reaction go to our live blog at https://t.co/caRxyICAPg pic.twitter.com/2YVu0wZ0yu
— Meydan Racing (@DRC_Meydan) March 31, 2018
The 6-year-old captured his third consecutive US $1 million Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors title when motoring down the Meydan straight to score by a length from the fast-finishing Sheikhzayedroad.
Eight-year-old awardee is only one Japanese horse in Saturday’s main event, the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates airline.