Thunder Snow stands up for the common horse in world ruled by equine aristocracy

A notable feature of US racing is that you don’t need to be extravagantly wealthy to own a talented horse. The range of sires whose progeny win Graded races is far less exclusive than in Britain.

That was illustrated again at Meydan on Saturday, when horses trained in the US won three of the four dirt races. The most expensive of them was Plus Que Parfait, whose sire Point Of Entry stood at $25,000 (£17,123) when Plus Que Parfait was conceived.

Conversely, the least expensive of Charlie Appleby’s three winners for Godolphin, all of them on turf, was a dead-heat between Blue Point and Cross Counter. Their sires, Shamardal and Teofilo, stood at €50,000 (£39,700) at the time of conception.