Thunder Snow made history in becoming the only horse to ever land the Group 1 Dubai World Cup twice, picking up winning prize-money of just over £5.6 million for connections for the second season in a row.

Drawn in stall 12, Thunder Snow was ridden to sit prominently under Christophe Soumillon and after early leader North America gave way entering the straight, the Godolphin horse and Gronkowski, who also sat on the pace, battled all the way to the line.

There was only a narrow margin in it as the two stayers fought it out, but Thunder Snow was the beneficiary as he stuck his head down on the line to deny the Oisin Murphy-ridden runner-up by the narrowest of margins.

Well-backed favourite Capezzano wasn't able to get to the front and never featured under Mickael Barzalona.

Soumillon said: "Last year I won by five, six or more lengths and today I had to fight hard. The two horses in front were going a bit better than me, but I gave him a chance.

"I want to say a big thank-you to Saeed Bin Suroor and Sheikh Mohammed because just before the race they said that I need to be confident and do everything right. Thanks to Thunder Snow as well as without him I wouldn't be able to do such great things.

"It was very hard to get by Gronkowski. I was looking more like a Cheltenham jump jockey in the end instead of an American-style jockey, but you need to keep him going and do something different.

"I promised to Saeed that I would have the trophy and he would have the money so I will have to come back next year!"

Thunder Snow returned at 4-1, Gronkowski, who used to be trained by both Jeremy Noseda and Chad Brown, rewarded each-way punters at 28-1, while Gunnevera was the only horse to close from the back and finished third at 12-1.