SO YOU THINK : THE BIG CRUISER

So You Think
(Photo : Punter’s Paradise)

PRINCE OF WALES’S STAKES (Group 1)
Royal Ascot, 15 June 2011

By now, the whole world knows all about So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral), and the Australian champion dominates the second day of Royal Ascot as he takes in the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Formerly a Group 2, this race has quickly been re-invented as one of the international stage’s premier events, and the new Ballydoyle incumbent would sit easy alongside the names of Dubai Millennium (GB), Nayef (USA), Rakti (GB), Azamour (Ire), Ouija Board (GB), Duke of Marmalade (Ire) and Manduro (Ger) on the honor roll.

Like the fellow Aidan O’Brien trainee Duke of Marmalade, So You Think collected the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup in facile fashion en route. While he faces stiffer competition than in that May 22 Curragh contest, his trainer’s confidence shines through. “He has had two easy runs and we had just been playing with him at home for them,” O’Brien said. “This is another jump up, with more serious contenders to run against, so his work has stepped up a little more seriously since, and it will be interesting to see how he goes. He’s a big cruiser, so it’s hard to say what his exact trip is, but you wouldn’t be afraid to run him over a mile on what we’ve seen at home.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News