So You Think, the New Zealand-bred champ, should never have been beaten. Photo / AP
Thank God for New Zealand and Australian racing.
Yesterday morning's defeat of So You Think in the group one Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot was a disgrace.
The New Zealand-bred champ should never have been beaten.
The fact he was beaten by his own pacemaker and own rider
is unforgivable.
Why would you ever want a pacemaker for a sit and sprint 2000m stayer like So You Think.
He beats his opposition with an incredibly high cruising speed, off which he can produce a remarkable sprint.
Put a pacemaker in his races and you take away his advantage, particularly one that went berserk in front over the 2000m distance.
When the pacemaker had had enough Ryan Moore took over on So You Think for the long run up the Ascot home straight and instead of holding the $1.35 favourite up, he sprinted him hard fully 400m out.
That rugged stayer Rewilding got up and beat So You Think in the last two bounds surprised no one who knew his racing style in Australia.
And it shouldn't have been a surprise to trainer Aidan O'Brien either, but it appeared to be.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to winning owners Godolphin, said Ballydoyle's (O'Brien's stables) decision to deploy Jan Vermeer as a pacemaker handed their horse the advantage.
"It's huge. It's fantastic. They played into our hands because the pace was so strong which is what our horse needs. He takes a while to get into his rhythm and that's why Frankie gets on so well with him," he said, adding the Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained winner will be aimed at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes back at Ascot next month.
If all the above is not bad enough, O'Brien came out and declared the defeat was probably his fault.
"He had a bit of a blow and I might have left him a bit short."
If you even slightly suspected So You Think was not fully fit for this race - although that's difficult to believe - the last thing you'd be doing is forcing the speed with a pacemaker.
If you owned the horse you wouldn't be happy. Particularly if you'd paid A$60 million for him.
