Thunder Snow wins the Dubai World Cup to complete a day of Godolphin domination

THUNDER SNOW was given a masterful ride by Christophe Soumillon to claim the Dubai World Cup and give Godolphin a stunning four-timer on the lucrative card.

Positive tactics were clearly the key and it was obvious turning it that Saeed Bin Suroor's four-year-old had plenty left in the tank to dispatch Bob Baffert's red-hot favourite West Coast.

Bin Suroor was understandably thrilled with Thunder Snow's victory in a course-record time.

He said: "The horse is really brilliant. He's a Group 1 winner in the past as a two-year-old and last year and now he's come back to win a Group 1 again - the World Cup.

"I think the jockey did a brilliant job. Nobody has done that before.

"He got away from stall 10 and got him handy. He took off and never looked like coming back."

Soumillon said: "I don't know if it was Sheikh Mohammed's daughter, but there was a little girl before the race who said to me 'it's a small track, so if you go in front you're going to win it!'

"After that Saeed told me to try to get the best start possible and stay close to the pace. I never thought I would be able to make the running with that draw, but he jumped quite well and on the inside I saw nobody was trying to challenge me.

"West Coast let me go and when I arrived in the first corner my horse just pricked his ears and had a good blow.

"In the back straight I was really cantering. He's a funny horse as he's really talented, but sometimes when it's in his head he doesn't want to do something he doesn't go.

"I was determined to make amends and once in that position I was pretty sure I would win. It's very hard to find a world-class horse to ride, but he is a horse you dream about.

"He's very talented and today he had a good trip and showed his class.

Charlie Appleby broke his World Cup duck in style with a pair of wins for Hawkbill (5-1) in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Jungle Cat (9-2) in the Al Quoz Sprint.

The latter became Godolphin and Appleby's first choice by default after favourite Blue Point had to be withdrawn before the start due to a bloody nose.

In his absence Jungle Cat was the first string for Appleby and Godolphin and after a waiting ride by Doyle, the six-year-old found top gear late on to get up and beat American challenger Stormy Liberal with something to spare.

Appleby struggled to contain his emotions after claiming his first ever World Cup night victory.

He said: "I'm delighted. I don't know what's happened to Blue Point, but I knew Jungle Cat was in the form of his life.

"The team have done a fantastic job. Jungle Cat deserves to win a race like this. I fancied him last year and then the rain came and that was his chance gone.

"I don't think I'd ever had him in such good shape. When he won here before he broke well and he did it again, which was key.

"He's a Group 1 winner now and I'm very proud of him."

Hawkbill led in the Dubai Sheema Classic from pillar to post to complete Appleby's double.

The 2016 Coral Eclipse settled much better for William Buick than fellow Godolphin runner Cloth Of Stars and he was not for catching, coming home ahead of Sir Michael Stoute's Poet's Word.

Appleby said: "Hawkbill has been a model of consistency and Will has given him a fantastic ride.

"When he was in the gates and started to have a bit of a go I thought 'oh, no', but he was sound and they've allowed him to run and I'm delighted.

"It's a huge team effort."