More to come from the big horse

By Alan Conway

Yet another weekend and yet another Group 1 for team Ballydoyle. The victory may have been narrow but So You Think added a few extra euro onto his future stud fee with his win in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.

While the winning distance may seem that So You Think struggled to put away the high class Snow Fairy, a review of the race suggests that the ex Aussie horse was just dossing in front and had more in the tank should he have needed it.

Not to say that Snow Fairy didn’t run a game race in defeat. Her run on Saturday shows that the talent she showed to land the Anglo Irish Oaks double last year is still intact. If one were being critical of Snow Fairy perhaps her jockey Frankie Dettori could have kept her further apart from So You Think in the closing stages. She did, in defence of her jockey, hang towards So You Think in the final furlong and may not have got past him in any case.

Much of the talk after the race has centred on where So You Think will show up next. Everything from the Arc to a showdown with Frankel in the QEII at Ascot have been mentioned as possible targets.

Going on what we know about the Coolmore operation you would have to feel that his next race will be in Paris in the first weekend of October. Winning the Arc has more prestige and value than the revamped QEII even if the mighty Frankel turns up on Champions Day.

So You Think looks and travels like a middle distance horse. Roll back your mind to the Eclipse where he defeated Workforce. That day he ran down a Derby and Arc winner over ten furlongs. Yet it took So You Think a while to engage top gear before he put Workforce behind him.

To my mind they would gain more by running in the Arc because I don’t see him beating Frankel over a mile anytime soon. You could never call the Arc a soft option, but it certainly is the more winnable race.

While he would be competitive with Frankel should he run at Ascot, Frankel would beat any horse over a mile. He is just that good.

With the defection of Pour Moi the Coolmore team don’t have any genuine top contenders for the Paris showpiece. St Nicholas Abbey could emerge as a challenger, but if they run So You Think then they have a huge chance of winning the race.

The strong pace that they normally go in the Arc would also be another plus for a horse who enjoys coming off a fast pace. While a big field may be a concern you would hope that wouldn’t be an issue.

There will be countless people who will be begging and dreaming for a Frankel v So You Think clash at Ascot. While I hope it happens, realistically we all may be cheering So You Think home in the Arc, it promises to be a great end to a thrilling 2011 flat season.

By Alan Conway