Thunder Snow latest name in the mix for Met Mile

ELMONT, N.Y. – The Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap keeps getting better and better.

Thunder Snow, the two-time winner of the Dubai World Cup, is now targeting the Grade 1, $1.2 million Met Mile at Belmont Park on June 8, according to a report in The Sporting Life.

Though Thunder Snow is nominated to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, trainer Saeed bin Suroor said he is more likely to run in the Met Mile.

“I don’t think I will be going to Ascot – America is more likely,” Suroor told The Sporting Life. “He needs to do another two pieces of work before we make a decision.”

Suroor said Thunder Snow had a workout last Thursday.

Suroor said he spoke to riders Christophe Soumillion and Kieren Fallon, who rides Thunder Snow in the morning “and we think maybe a mile is better to start him back over,” Suroor said.

In the article, Suroor also mentioned a possible return to Belmont in the fall for the Jockey Club Gold Cup as a prelude to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Last year, Thunder Snow was beaten a neck in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and finished third behind Accelerate and Gunnevera in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill.

If Thunder Snow comes for the Met Mile, he’ll add to a field that is expected to include Mitole, winner of the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on Derby Day; Coal Front, winner of the Group 1 Godolphin Mile on the Dubai World Cup undercard; McKinzie, winner of the Alysheba Stakes last out at Churchill; Grade 1 winner Promises Fulfilled; and Firenze Fire, who won the Runhappy for his third stakes victory at Belmont.

On Monday at Churchill Downs, Mitole worked five furlongs in 1:01.20.