So You Think.

As anyone who's had even an inkling of where I come from can readily attest, we Aussies have long desired a world wide thoroughbred superstar, to drape our hopes upon. We have probably the best sprinter in the world, and have at different times, had others who would have taken on and beaten any other sprinter on the face of the planet. But stayers strutting there stuff on the world stage, have been a bit thin on the ground. That's not to say that we believe our product is below the world's best standard, it's just that we, for reasons that have always evaded me, seem to be reticent to take the plunge.

With the different breeding seasons, we can never compete in the three year old classics, where most of the heavyweight reputations seem to be forged. So we're wedged in behind the eight ball before we can get the cue down from the rack. If we're to make a mark on the big stage, we are left with no option but to take on the older horses in the big G1 events. Sandown on Saturday sees Australian hopes centre around our latest hot prospect, So You Think, who steps out in the Eclipse against the Derby winner Workforce, over ten furlongs. And this has been a real worry since his defeat in the Prince of Wales Stakes, when he went down to the Frankie Dettori ridden Rewilding. As we all know, all manner of "you know what" hit the fan when So You Think ran out of fuel in the shadows of the post.

After the race, Aiden O'Brien was quick to take the blame for the horse's defeat, upon himself. He effect, he stated that he'd let the horse get away from him, which resulted in the animal being underdone on race day. There is no way that I can take issue with his opinions. He takes care of the horse, while sit in a lounge on the far side of the planet, trying to second guess what's happening. One only has to take a quick look at my napping efforts to see that I get things wrong, heaps of the time. I may be getting things a little wrong here, but I don't think I've seen too much from the AOB stable about the possibility that the animal might have been badly ridden in the Prince of Wales Stakes. I hope that I'm wrong.

So where does this leave the average punter, never mind the likes of a victory hungry Australian like me? Will So You Think, with extra work pumped into his legs, be ridden in the same manner? Will he still be ridden for home from a long way out, and again be asked to defy the challengers? Or will he be held together for longer, thereby giving him the chance to go to the post full of running. I fully realise that there will probably be others who will disagree with my conclusions on the Prince of Wales Stakes, but I'm firmly of the opinion that he'd have won if ridden more coldly. It has to be remembered, that what made this horse a great in Australia, was the manner in which he was handled in running. We don't race in the European pattern, and this might be what can regularly bring the horse undone in the North. Make no mistake, he has loads of ability, it's now a matter of Aiden O'Brien finding the key to him.

 

I think any horse should be given a second chance after a defeat (even if it's a very bad run, like Workforce in the King George last year), so it will be interesting to see how So You Think does on the weekend. In a way there's a lot of pressure this time, as another defeat would really see the doubters sticking the boot in, and you'd wonder if the horse was top class. But anything could happen really, it's that sort of race where the two main horses in the betting have been slightly enigmatic in their races so far.

 

Agree with everything you said Ki.

 

Listen......Rumour has it that AOB has scratched the other three horses- and that Seamie Heffernan will ride SYT.
"That's not to say that we believe our product is below the world's best standard, it's just that we, for reasons that have always evaded me, seem to be reticent to take the plunge."
5 stars for humour, Cyclonic

 

Good article Cyc.

If So You Think gets beat on Saturday his reputation will be in pieces, he came over from your shores with a huge reputation, arguably one of the greatest middle distance horses ever in Australia. Bert Cummings rating him as the best he's trained would back that up. So if he gets beat on Saturday it's a big kick in the teeth to the reputation of Australian racing in general. People can forgive him one defeat, but two, I'm not so sure.

I think he will improve for faster ground, whilst the ground wasn't soft at Ascot, it was a little tacky, and the weather forecast suggests the ground will be much better at Sandown, so I think that will bring out improvement. obviously your climate is much warmer than ours, so he is used to top of the ground. His sire was also a duel winner of the BC turf, and that's always on lightening quick ground, so the firmer the better. So maybe it wasnt that Ryan Moore played his hand to soon in the POW, maybe it was that So You Think tired in the ground, were as on top of the ground back in Australia he could sustain his finishing kick all the way to the line.

If there was one positive to take from Ascot, we did see that he has a tremendous change off pace, so as long as he doesn't tire again, he should get the better of Workforce for pace. Surprisingly though I think Workforce may not prove the main danger, with the form of Stoute's yard you have to worry. I feel stable companion Cape Blanco could prove hard to pass, if allowed to make all, like in the Irish Champion Stakes last year. Though I would question wether AOB will allow CB to run out infront, as another defeat for So You Think will make AOB look rather stupid, after claiming he had never trained anything like him.

Let's hope he gets atleast good to firm ground, then we can really see how this so called Aussie superstar compares to our best, if he gets beat again there can be no excuses

 

Welcome RR. I'm a non betting man, so I wish you all the best mate. I too an a Workforce fan.

C'arn SYT.

 

mmmm shergar,your making a point about so you think improving on faster going,but i cannot see it in his form or pedigree.

he's run on soft, gdsf and good in oz,we all now its faster than that to our equivelent,but on oz gdsf he was unbeaten and only beaten once on soft from 2 tries and that was because of the 2m distance.on good he had more defeats to his name and some of those good ground runs must of been to what we would call gdfm?his last and from what ive read his greatest win, his 2nd cox plate,2m7.45,thats gdsf ground!

as for high chapparel,his last bc win was a dead heat and falbrav a neck in 3rd.falbrav didnt stay 1m4f as he was beaten by more then a neck in the king george and arc on his favourite quick going ,1m3f was his limit,so i wouldnt count that as his greatest bc win,the year before on easy good he won with more authority and that was on top of his derby wins on easy ground.and of course sadlers well was his sire!

 

Bert Cummings sounds like a Lancashire chimney sweep from the late 1800's!

AOB was very quick to come out and blame himself after Ascot - if he wins on Saturday against Workforce then you'd have to take what he said with a degree of truth that he undercooked him for the Prince Of Wales.

If he loses to Workforce then the reputation is dented but it is an Arc & Derby winner he's taking on - its the fact it would come on the back of the Prince Of Wales he was expected to win where the damage comes. Personally I'd like to see him take on Rewilding again at somepoint, fully tuned if AOB says he wasn't, to see if it was just making excuses or if Rewilding has improved that much and simply had his measure?

 

Greatpilsudski....Fair point, I can see were your coming from, but the ground at Ascot, if in Australia would have been given as soft, so it's hard to work out the form, as the grounds always alot firmer over there than it is here.

The horse I believe is used to faster going in Australia, I accept maybe I was wrong on pedigree, I just assumed the BC turf ground is always fast, as it's a warm climate, should have checked first.

We will see anyways on Saturday, but I'd still prefer faster ground if I was backing him

 

I've read a lot of imformed opinion, and I thank the posters for their input, but I'm still in the dark. AOB is not about to let the world know how the horse is to be ridden, it could play into the hands of his rivals. So where do I go from here? Will he be ridden for dear life three furlongs from home, or will he be held a bit further? I have no doubt that the result in the Prince of Wales would have been different if ridden more quietly. If he to be "opened up" three out, he again give the likes of Workforce their best shot to bring him undone, as Rewilding did.

I want to see the horse get home, but OAB scares me.

P.S. The faster the going, the better for me.

 

Im agreeing with Reebok although SMS is not on form-- Workforce is a not ordinary horse, no ordinary horse wins the derby and arc in the same year!! So @ 2/1 at the mo I will be having some of that

 

I dont understand why SYT is favourite, at the moment is really untested on english soil, he has come over from Aus with this prolific reputation and he won a couple of races in Curragh but he has lost his only race in england, he is against a proven top quality horse who won the arc and derby (only last year) so it proves he can win where ever he races.