In Cox Plate week when we remember some of the all time great Cox Plate winners, So You Think is a name that will always come into the conversation with tragic news from Coolmore on Monday announcing his sudden passing.
Coolmore statement - It is with great sadness we announce the passing of 10-time Group 1 winner and leading sire So You Think, after succumbing to a short illness while receiving world-class care from the team at Scone Equine Hospital.
So You Think was described by his trainer Bart Cummings as “perfection on four legs, you don’t get any better than him, he is the finest, most genuine horse I have ever trained”.
The striking son of High Chaparral and two-time Cox Plate winner was purchased by Duncan Ramage for NZ$110,000 on behalf of Dato Tan Chin Nam at the NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.
A 5-time Group 1 winner on both continents for both Bart Cummings and Aidan O’Brien, he will long be remembered as one of the all-time-greats.
“When people visit Coolmore, more often than not the stallion most of them really want to see is So You Think. He was an absolute gentleman, an incredibly kind and intelligent horse and this is a sad day for all the staff that have looked after him so well at Coolmore since he retired in 2012,” said Tom Magnier.
“We are so lucky to have had him and watch him develop into one of the country’s truly elite sires. He provided me with so many great memories on racetracks throughout the world as both a racehorse and a stallion. I will never forget the day he sired three Group 1 winners in a day at Randwick in 2022, but equally the day he provided Joseph O’Brien with his first Royal Ascot winner as a jockey in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes in 2012.”
So You Think is a sire that will be remembered for his remarkable consistency, finishing in the top 10 on the sires table for each of the last 5 seasons and coming second to I Am Invincible on two occasions.
He is already responsible for 12 individual Group 1 winners, but with the likes of Revelare, Getta Good Feeling, Oh Diamond Lil and Saturday’s Group 3 winner Diamond Scene to continue to run for him, this figure looks set to continue to climb well into the future.