Dream come true for Soumillon
dubai — It was like a dream for jockey Christophe Soumillon when Thunder Snow produced his bestever performance over 10 furlongs on dirt track at the Meydan Racecourse to win the US$10-million G1 Dubai World Cup for Godolphin.
“I thought I was dreaming. When I came into the straight, I couldn’t feel anyone following me and thought that I better make Thunder Snow concentrate because I know that he can do something sometimes with the big screen and the marks on the track,” the 36-year-old Belgian was quoted on Godolphin website. “When I looked up at the screen, I saw the white cap and the blue colours going quite easy in the front and thought that I had better go until the line,” he revealed. “It’s magic — I work hard every day to make sure that something crazy like this might happen,” the ecstatic jockey said.
“It was a bit difficult this morning to think that we could win the Dubai World Cup, but we tried very hard and Saeed gave me a lot of confidence before the race,” Soumillon admitted frankly. “I wasn’t ready to ride Thunder Snow
Winning this race is like a dream come true. When I was a young kid in the jockey academy, I was looking at these races and screaming and crying when Cigar won
Christophe Soumillon
so positively because I thought there would have been more speed on the inside but, when my horse jumped so well, I knew that I would have to make it. I saw nobody try to challenge me on the inside. West Coast let me go and, when I arrived at the first corner, my horse pulled his ears in front and had a good blow.
“The whole way down the back straight, I was really cantering. Thunder Snow is a very talented horse but sometimes, when he doesn’t want to do something, he doesn’t. He was amazing tonight,” he explained
“It wasn’t that difficult and Saeed has done a great job. The horse was in top form today. It makes a jockey’s life much easier when you ride the good horses,” added the Dubai World Cup winning jockey. “He is a champion. He has already proven it as a twoyear-old in Europe and as a threeyear-old out in Dubai. Unfortunately, he did something funny when he ran in Kentucky but, when he is like he was today, he is an amazing horse.
“Winning this race is like a dream come true. When I was a young kid in the jockey academy, I was looking at these races and screaming and crying when Cigar won.
“I saw so many great jockeys, like Jerry Bailey and Frankie Dettori, winning the Dubai World Cup. I was just hoping that one day I would have that chance and today it has happened. It’s just amazing.”
The Dubai World Cup was a third G1 triumph for the four-year-old Helmet colt, trained by Saeed bin Suroor. He has proved top class on both turf and dirt. He won the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, France, as a two-year-old and the G1 Prix Jean Prat last year at Chantilly, both on turf, after taking the G2 UAE Derby on dirt at Meydan.
Saeed bin Suroor, celebrating his eighth Dubai World Cup winner, commented: “Thunder Snow is a brilliant horse.
“He is a G1 winner twice in the past in France and now he has come back to win the Dubai World Cup. It is a very big result,” Suroor enthused.