So You Think (NZ) Confirms Champion Status

New Zealand bred So You Think has confirmed that he is one of the very best thoroughbreds in the world after putting in a brilliant performance in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes (2000m) at Sandown, England on Sunday morning.

The race was set from the beginning as a match between the English heavy weight, the Derby and Arc winner Workforce, and the dual Cox Plate winner So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral x Triassic), and, to the delight of those watching around the world, it did not disappoint.

Workforce made his intentions clear in the race when taking the lead at the point of the turn, with the 4-7 favourite So You Think trapped on the rail as the tough pacemaker Confront kept on the outside.

With jockey Seamie Heffernan finally getting the son of High Chaparral clear, he set So You Think alight and, in a brilliant last furlong, he raced clear of Workforce winning the Group 1 by half-a-length.

The impact So You Think has had on the English and Irish racing scene is significant. With many believing that the English and Irish are the world leaders in producing middle distance horses, So You Think has shown that New Zealand bred horses are too, some of the best in the world.

With many overseas raiders claiming England's premier sprints, and NZ graduate Starcraft winning the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile, So You Think has achieved what no other New Zealand bred horse has managed, to beat some of Europe's very best middle distances horses on their own turf.

With bookmakers taking a hammering from the victory, they were quick to make So You Think favourite for the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Arc, but there is plenty of speculation as to where he will be racing next.

"He has a lot of choices,' said So You Think's trainer Aiden O'Brien.

"He has the Irish Champion Stakes, he has the Juddmonte (International) and he could have a break now and be trained for the Cox Plate. He has so many races open to him so we will go home and talk about it and hopefully we will come up with the right plan."

The comment is welcome news to the army of So You Think fans in New Zealand and Australia, as the champion may return for a tilt at his third Cox Plate, a feat that would see him join the ranks of the great Kingston Town.

The Coral-Eclipse Stakes was So You Think's seventh Group 1 victory from sixteen starts, and has taken his stakes earnings to in excess of $6.7 million.

So You Think was bred by Michael Moran and Piper Farm and was bought by Duncan Ramage's DGR Thoroughbreds from Windsor Park Stud for $110,000 at the 2008 Karaka Premier Sale.

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