Thunder Snow out to put US debacle firmly behind him

Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas (Group 1) | 1m, 3yo | ATR

Saeed Bin Suroor is out to win the Irish Classic for the third time with Thunder Snow, but neither of his previous winners, Bachir (2000) and Dubawi (2005), came into the race off the back of a display like his last time.

After a trouble-free winter in Dubai, where he handled a switch to dirt with aplomb to pick up the UAE 2,000 Guineas and UAE Derby, last year's Group 1 Criterium International winner completely lost the plot three weeks ago when the stalls opened for the Kentucky Derby.

After giving Christophe Soumillion's powers of balance a workout by bucking and kicking at the back of the field for a furlong, the jockey decided he'd had enough and pulled him up. Quite what sparked the performance is still a mystery even to his trainer.

"In nearly 20 years I've never seen a Godolphin horse do anything like that before," said Bin Suroor. "We had him thoroughly checked over and nothing came up so hopefully it was just one of those things. "

Since his return to Britain, Thunder Snow has shown no ill effects in his work back on grass in Newmarket.

Bin Suroor said: "His work has been good in the morning since he's returned here. He goes there in great shape.

"It looks a tough race and it may be that Churchill is a superstar, but we like our horse."

As to possible tactics, he added: "We see him as a mile-and-a-quarter horse really so we plan to make plenty of use of him over a mile. Rain before the race would help his chances."

Pros

Trainer's record in the race is to be respected and he could be a player, especially if it rains.

Cons

Lost the plot last time and needs to bounce back over a trip that might be short of his best.

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