Thunder Snow lined up for QEII bid on Champions Day

Godolphin's recent French Group 1 winner Thunder Snow is having his autumn programme geared around Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot in October, trainer Saeed Bin Suroor has revealed.

The three-year-old gave his trainer his first winner of the year at the highest level when landing the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly and is having a break ahead of possible targets in August, but his main end-of-season aim is the Group 1 QEII Stakes at Ascot on October 21, for which he is a 16-1 chance with Paddy Power.

Beyond that, the son of Helmet is booked for a second appearance at the Dubai Carnival at Meydan in 2018, where he will be aimed at the $10 Million Dubai World Cup itself.

Bin Suroor said: "It's important I speak to Sheikh Mohammed about where we go next with Thunder Snow as he's the only top horse we have in the stable. His main target is the QEll at Ascot in October and he ran well there when third at the royal meeting before he went on to win nicely in France."

Thunder Snow is a 14-1 chance with most firms for the Group 1 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood on August 2 but may swerve that in favour of a return to France or a trip to York.

Bin Suroor added: "Thunder Snow is having an easy time just now and we may have a look at the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville with him or the Juddmonte International at York as options before Ascot.

"Beyond that, we need him for Dubai, where he won the UAE Derby last year. The plan would be to run him in one of the rounds of the Maktoum challenge and hopefully he can win that and have a crack at the World Cup."