Bin Suroor backs Soumillon and hails 'amazing' Thunder Snow after Classic bid

Christophe Soumillon has received the backing of trainer Saeed Bin Suroor after his controversial whip-heavy Breeders' Cup Classic ride on Thunder Snow.

The Dubai World Cup-winning colt raced close to a ferocious pace throughout the Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday and fought bravely behind Accelerate and the fast-finishing Gunnevera, holding off the challenge of Yoshida to claim third by a nose.

But Soumillon's use of the whip in the home straight drew strong criticism on social media, and from Brendan Powell and Richard Hughes among former jockeys, while stateside-based British-born trainer Graham Motion felt the ride should act as a wake-up call to US officials who have traditionally steered clear of the kinds of curbs on whip use favoured in Europe.

While the nine-time French champion jockey did not go for his whip until the two-furlong pole, he was judged to have struck Thunder Snow a minimum of 16 times.

However, the Churchill Downs stewards saw nothing untoward with the ride, and neither did Bin Suroor.

"I have no complaints," he said on Monday. "Thunder Snow is a tough horse, Christophe tried to do the best he could for the horse, and for the result.

"Christophe has ridden him everywhere – in France, in the Dubai World Cup and in America in his race before the Breeders' Cup – and they ran a huge race this time.

"The reality is that the pace was too fast; it was like a sprint, not a mile-and-a-quarter race. But the horse is strong and he always tries hard.

"The horse looked really good before and after the race. I went down to see him in the stable and he was happy and fresh, kicking and jumping around like he'd never had a run. He's amazing."

Bin Suroor praised the toughness shown by Thunder Snow to run right to the wire after following punishing early fractions set by Mendelssohn and Mckinzie.

"The race was crazy early on, I mean they ran 22 seconds [for the first quarter-mile], which was too fast, but my horse is tough," said Bin Suroor. "The horses that raced at the front all finished nowhere except for Thunder Snow, he stayed fighting to the end.

THUNDERING SUCCESS... Thunder Snow in numbers

Career earnings: £6,813,532
Group and Grade 1 wins: 3
Places: 5
Peak RPR: 123 (Dubai World Cup)
Countries raced in: 5

Ears pricked: Saeed Bin Suroor reported Thunder Snow to have been fresh and well after his gutsy effort in the Breeders' Cup ClassicCredit: Edward Whitaker

"He came back after the race in good form. He ran a huge race to finish third and at one stage I thought he had a chance to win."

Soumillon has been aboard Thunder Snow for all but one of his starts since first getting the call from Godolphin for the Criterium International in October 2016, and flew to Kentucky for just the one ride.

Thunder Snow will turn five on January 1 and Bin Suroor is plotting a return to Meydan with the aim of making the son of Helmet the first dual winner of the Dubai World Cup.

"We'll give him a break and take him back to Dubai," said Bin Suroor. "I'll talk to Sheikh Mohammed and I imagine he'll run in one of the Maktoum Challenge races and then in the Dubai World Cup again."

One horse Thunder Snow won't have to worry about in Dubai is Accelerate, who by then will have retired to stand at Lane's End Farm after a possible swansong in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January.

That is also the immediate target for Gunnevera, who finished a distant eighth behind Thunder Snow at Meydan in March.

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