He is trained by Saeed bin Suroor who manages the preparation of the Godolphin horses in England during the summer and in Dubai in the winter months.

[4] Eastern Joy's dam Red Slippers also produced the Prix de Diane winner West Wind and was a half-sister to Balanchine.

[6] Doyle was again in the saddle two weeks later when the colt was stepped up in class for the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot and finished sixth of the eighteen runners behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained favourite Caravaggio.

Just over three weeks after his run at Newmarket the colt was sent to France for the Group 1 Critérium International over 1400 metres on soft turf and was partnered for the first time by Christophe Soumillon.

After taking an early lead he settled in second behind the Godolphin pacemaker Bay of Poets before regaining the advantage entering the straight, at which point Soumillon tracked right to race up the stands-side.

[11] In the winter of 2016/7 Thunder Snow was relocated to the United Arab Emirates where he was based at Godolphin's Al Quoz training facility.

With Soumillon in the saddle again, Thunder Snow raced in second behind Capezanno before taking the lead at half way and drawing away to win "easily" by five and three quarter lengths from the outsider Bee Jersey.

He was made the 11/4 favourite ahead of the Japanese challenger Epicharis, Lancaster Bomber (runner up in the Dewhurst Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf) from Ireland and the Todd Pletcher-trained Master Plan from the United States.

After tracking the leaders he steadily wore down the front-running Epicharis in the straight and won by a short head with Master Plan taking third ahead of Lancaster Bomber.

[15] Starting a 20/1 longshot in the Derby, on a wet, sloppy track with standing water, Thunder Snow broke awkwardly from stall two, and then began bucking and kicking as Soumillon struggled to control him.

[17] On 13 August Thunder Snow was back in France and started favourite for the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois over the straight 1600 metre course at Deauville Racecourse.

[19] As in 2017, Thunder Snow spent the winter in Dubai and began his third campaign by contesting all three rounds of the Al Maktoum Challenge series at Meydan.

Thunder Snow raced in mid-division before making a forward move in the straight, and overtook the front-running North America 100 metres from the finish to win by a neck with Heavy Metal four lengths back in third.

He set a steady pace before accelerating on the final turn and drew away from his rivals in the straight to come home five and three quarter lengths clear of West Coast, with Mubtaahij a neck away in third place.

[22] After a break of four and a half months, Thunder Snow returned to European turf for the International Stakes at York Racecourse on 22 August.

Starting a 16/1 outsider he led the field into the straight but faded in the last quarter mile and came home last of the eight runners, more than 13 lengths behind the winner Roaring Lion.

In September the horse was sent to the United States to contest the Jockey Club Gold Cup over ten furlongs on dirt at Belmont Park.

After racing in third place behind Diversify and Mendelssohn he took the lead in the straight but was overtaken in the final strides and beaten a neck by the 46/1 outsider Discreet Lover.

After tracking the leaders he moved up on the inside to take second place in the straight and kept on under a hard ride from Christophe Soumillon to finish third behind Accelerate and Gunnevera, beaten less than two lengths by the winner.

The other nine runners included Gronkowski, Yoshida (Woodward Stakes), Audible (Florida Derby), Gunnevera, Seeking the Soul and the South Korean champion Dolkong.