Legendary Sire So You Think Dies at Age 19

Australian thoroughbred has lost one of its best horses, with Coolmore confirming on Monday the passing of champion death of a racehorse and sire So You Think at age 19 after a short illness.

After the loss of Bart Cummings and subsequently Aidan O’Brien, the stallion was like an amazing shining star that really set him apart from the rest of the pack. Apart from his stay on the track which was memorable, he also left a strong imprint as a sire. Thinking about his heritage, Tom Magnier of Coolmore called him “an absolute gentleman, an incredibly kind and intelligent horse,” which is a pretty significant indication of the love and respect he gets from everyone that has been in his company.”

So You Think, a son of High Chaparral out of Triassic, was born in New Zealand in 2006. He was bought by Duncan Ramage for US$85,481 on behalf of Dato Tan Chin Nam at the NZB Karaka Yearling Sale. His speed and grit quickly made him stand out, thus he went on to have a successful career.

Bart Cummings was the one who initially trained him and who, after seeing him, once referred to him as “perfection on four legs,” and also said that he was “the finest, most sincere horse” he had ever dealt with. While working with Cummings, So You Think became the fantasy of the Australian thoroughbred racing fans, achieving the feat of two consecutive Cox Plates in 2009 and 2010.

On his own turf, he was almost unbeatable and racked up five Group 1 wins, among them the Cox Plate, the Mackinnon Stakes, and the Underwood Stakes. As a result of his supremacy, there were inquiries from Europe, and he was moved to Ballydoyle with Aidan O’Brien in Ireland, where he kept on winning at the highest level.

Under O’Brien’s guidance, So You Think added another five Group 1 titles in Europe, including the Eclipse Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes, and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. He became one of the rare horses to win major Group 1 races in both hemispheres, a demonstrating his exceptional range and talent in class.

His international campaign also took him to the United States, where he finished a respectable fifth behind Drosselmeyer in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Though he didn’t win that day, his performance against elite competition on dirt reinforced his reputation as one of the most versatile and death of a racehorse of his era.

Because of his eye-catching physique and pleasant nature, he was one of the favorite breeding dogs for quite a while, and it was not long before his offspring started to dominate the racetrack. After his retirement at Coolmore in 2012, So You Think was quite successful in his management of life outside the racing industry.

“So You Think is without a doubt the coolest horse at Coolmore that you should be telling everyone about if that is what you were looking for. It was a fantastic animal, and I reckon this is a very sad day for the whole fan community of the horse.” We didn’t really assume it that he was ours and we saw him mature to be one of the best sires in Australia,” said Magnier.

He also remembered the moment when So You Think achieved a feat of three Group 1 winners in one day at Randwick in 2022, referring to it as one of the most unforgettable days in his career.”

As a stallion, So You Think consistently featured among the country’s top sires, finishing inside the top 10 of the Australian thoroughbred Sires Table for each of the past five seasons. On two occasions, he finished runner-up to I Am Invincible, another powerhouse of Australian breeding.

His offspring comprise 12 individual Group 1 winners, and a few of them are still being trained and look bright for the future. Among these are Revelare, Getta Good Feeling, Oh Diamond Lil, and Diamond Scene, which last Saturday was the winner of a Group 3 race. The heritage of the sire will be the mainstay of Australian thoroughbred racing next decade as a result of such talent emerging from his bloodline.

So You Think’s career was a transition across continents, trainers, and audiences, leaving behind a heritage that only a few horses can. Along with their ability, the artists were also praised for their stability and pleasantness. The phrase of Bart Cummings is still resonating in the souls of the sport lovers: “He is the best you can ever get.”

His departure is a singular moment in time history of the Australian thoroughbred racing, which is basically a farewell of a grand chapter but his impact is still very much alive. Essentially, it is the So You Think lineage and the recollections that constitute the record of his triumphant return which will be kept alive by the trainers, breeders and racing fans.

The memory of So You Think refuses to fade as Coolmore people and racing lovers are grieving his passing. The very heritage of So You Think is a call back to the fact that he was a phenomenal combination of power, cleverness, and elegance which made him one of the most recognizable in the history of Australian horses.