Cape Blanco has been retired after winning the Joe Hirsch turf classic Saturday.Vets found a slab fracture of the right front leg. Cape Blanco was one of the favourites for the Breeders cup Turf.Cape blanco came into the race after a win over 3 time champion Gio Ponti in the Arlington Million,he also won the Man of War also this year,In 2010 he won the Irish Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes. He won the Hirsch by a nose over Deans Kitten. There has been no news released on the 4yr old Galiieo colts stud plans yet.
Game horse who deserves a decent shot at stud. He wasn't the best there has ever been by any stretch of the imagination but he was 'tough as teak' as they say. I hope he has a long and successful stud career. Being a good son of Galileo he is sure to generate interest.
As it's Coolmoore we have to suspect that the horse could well be perfectly fine, and this is an easy way of wriggling out of putting his high reputation in America on the line in the BC Turf. Would a BC Turf win realy bump up his stallion fee? Probably not. I will always remember him for his Irish Champion stakes win, for me no horse would have stopped him that day, he was outstanding
When he galloped the field senseless in the Irish Champion, that was a superb performance. They were no mugs in behind and he slammed Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over that day. Very good horse, but more of a standard setter than an outstanding one. Superb efforts in America though, speaks volumes about European middle distance strength. Possibly this opens up a gap for So You Think to go to the Breeders Cup?
Good horse but some of the races he was made to run in (Queen Anne) do make you wonder if AOB had taken leave of his senses. Hope he gets a decent place at stud, especially after his recent successes in the US.
No a good bit of news Islander. But at least it wasn't a life threatening injury. Hopefully it's just a hairline fracture. The way he got to the line, and made his way back to the enclosure seems to point that way. Shame about missing a crack at the Breeders though, he was in fine form.
Tough old boy and hope he has a happy time in the sheds. Amazing he succeeded at the trips he did given his distaff line. Even more amazed that Coolmore don't employ the old king shergar fella...at least to muck out some of the stuff he spreads on here!
I feel he was a much better horse than some give him credit for, though he was the victim of bad placements from AOB at times, he did have a few dodgy runs, but I still feel he was the best middle distance horse of his generation, better than Workforce. He will be all the rage to American breeders. Most Americans aren't aware, that there is a world away from the big bubble they live in, so none of his defeats in Europe will matter to them. He landed a G1 hatrick, and was never beaten over there, so I can see them making a fortune out of him. He's by Galileo aswell, so there's every chance he will produce top class offspring
I suspect that they might well send him to Ashford (Coolmore's US stud) as his recent racing campaign has been so US focussed. He'd certainly have a unique selling point in that there are no sons of Galileo at stud in the USA at the moment.
TopClass, I think that if they send So You Think over to the Breeders’ Cup, they may go for the Classic which is on dirt. The fact that so many European horses do so well in American turf races is simply down to the fact that most of their top turf performers are not as good because most of their top races are on dirt. Gio Ponti would not be a champion in Europe. As PN suggests, there must be every chance that Cape Blanco will stand at Coolmore USA having done a good job of advertising himself there this summer.
The whole point In running him in those American G1s was to raise his profile out there, as far as I've heard he will stand at Coolmoores American stud
There would be little point in standing him at Coolmore in Ireland, they already have his dad and another son in RIP VAN WINKLE.
