Thunder Snow

Thunder Snow made an eye-catching winning debut at Leicester on Tuesday, defeating a field of 12 to become the fifth individual winner for her first-season sire Helmet.

The March-born colt is a half-brother to the high-class performer Ihtimal (Shamardal), who shone as a juvenile when winning the G2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster, having previously landed the G3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket. At three, Ihtimal added the G3 UAE Oaks and the Listed UAE 1,000 Guineas to her haul, before finishing a close third in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Her dam, the Dubai Destination mare Eastern Joy, has also produced another brace of Stakes winners in First Victory (Teofilo), who proved herself a smart performer at two, winning the G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes last season, and Always Smile (Cape Cross), landed the Listed Hambleton Stakes at York earlier this month. Eastern Joy is a half-sister to the Prix de Diane heroine West Wind, and is from the further family of the Irish Derby and Oaks heroine Balanchine.