CNN  — 

In May 2017, Thunder Snow was the butt of a few jokes on Twitter after refusing to race in the Kentucky Derby.

On Saturday, the Irish thoroughbred was the toast of the horse racing world after a thrilling victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Under Belgian jockey Christophe Soumillon, Thunder Snow recorded a seventh victory in the race for the Godolphin stable and a sixth for trainer Saeed Bin Suroor.

It was a far cry from the scenes at Churchill Downs less than a year ago, when the colt bucked out of the gate before pulling out of the “The Run for the Roses.”

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Updated 10:47 AM EDT, Mon April 2, 2018
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Montevideo, URUGUAY:  El jockey brasileno Jorge A. Ricardo sube al podio para recibir la copa del Gran Premio Jose Pedro Ramirez que obtuvo con el pura sangre argentino Good Report, corrido sobre 2.400 metros, en el hipodromo de Maronas en Montevideo, el 06 de enero de 2007. El vencedor atraveso el disco en un tiempo de 2 minutos 27 segundos 84 centesimas, para alzarse con la 109? edicion del maximo acontecimiento del turf uruguayo que puso en escena a catorce ejemplares de cuatro generaciones, procedentes de Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA  (Photo credit should read PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP/Getty Images)
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“I can’t quite believe I’ve just won this amazing race,” Soumillon said in quotes carried by racingpost.com.

“I was screaming and crying watching horses like Cigar and jockeys such as Jerry Bailey and Frankie Dettori winning this race, so for me to do it is incredible.”

An 8-1 shot before the race, Thunder Snow saw off the challenge of Bob Baffert-trained favorite West Coast, who came in second.

Soumillon was full of praise for his horse, who clearly enjoyed the Meydan track more than the Louisville dirt.

“He’s a funny horse – he’s very talented but when he doesn’t want to do something there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.

“The track really suits front-runners but, even still, he’s a true champion. He proved it as a two-year-old, a three-year-old and now today he was amazing.”

Bin Suroor agreed, adding: “This horse is brilliant.

“Christophe rode a great race. We spoke beforehand about what to do from the outside draw and he rode him to perfection.

“As soon as he was out the stalls and in a good position, I thought he would go well.”

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Updated 10:47 AM EDT, Mon April 2, 2018
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Baffert had to settle for second and third place, with West Coast and Mubtaahij coming in behind Thunder Snow.

“Our horses ran well – I knew they would – but we wanted to win,” he admitted. “Thunder Snow is clearly a good horse, he just ran them off their feet. I know that feeling.”