Racing: O'Brien mulls over trio of riders for So You Think

It was always going to be a long bow to draw to get Australian jockey Steven Arnold back on So You Think for Sunday morning's 400,000 ($795,000) Eclipse Stakes.

Arnold, through his manager, applied to be reunited with So You Think when English jockey Ryan Moore decided against staying with the former Australian champ in favour of last year's Derby and Arc winner Workforce.

Arnold had six rides on So You Think in Australia for five wins, the only beaten performance was when third as favourite in last November's Melbourne Cup, the stallion's last start before being sold to Europe.

But he was told Aidan O'Brien and his Ballydoyle stable are considering Seamus Heffernan, Kieren Fallon or Johnny Murtagh.

Heffernan rode So You Think to win the group three Mooresbridge Stakes in the horse's Northern Hemisphere debut.

Fallon and Murtagh are hard-nosed big race riders who have long associations with Ballydoyle.

Dato Tan Chin Nam, who retained a share in So You Think, is known to have put in a plug for Steven Arnold.

But when you are a junior partner in a horse with Ballydoyle, you are exactly that and your opinion holds the amount of weight that suggests.

So You Think and Workforce were early joint favourites for the Eclipse, but weight of money on the punt for So You Think has seen him firm into outright favouritism. Both stars were originally at 5/4 ($2.25), but a 40,000 single bet on So You Think at those odds have forced him into $2.

Workforce has twice drifted, first to $2.50 and yesterday to $2.60.

Snow Fairy, also a regular mount of Ryan Moore's last campaign, is out to $7.50 third favourite from $6.

If you are a So You Think fan you are probably not disappointed that Ryan Moore has jumped ship.

His ride to get the stallion beaten in the critical group one Prince Of Wales Stakes in England last start was as mystifying as it was horrible.

Not only did Ballydoyle help beat So You Think by putting its own pacemaker in the race, Moore chased the stallion hard the second the pacemaker dropped off, just before the home turn, literally setting the race up for the more solid stayer in Rewilding and Frankie Dettori.

Moore gave the impression of someone who believed he was on a motorbike, which makes this race even more critical for the stable than it would have been had So You Think remained unbeaten in three starts in Europe.

He is being groomed as the next best "you beaut" stallion in the enormously strong line-up at Coolmore, the breeding arm of the operation. A second defeat at this level is something that team doesn't want to even think about.

Snow Fairy is the interesting runner.

Her wins in England were superb last year, but in terms of individual performances her group one victory in Japan in November then her Hong Kong International Cup win in December were spectacular.

The moderately-bred mare has a massive finishing burst and if they run this as hard as the last race So You Think competed in, she could get over the top of both the favourites.

Late yesterday, O'Brien threw a pebble to ripple the clear surface when he declared he was still making up his mind about a start for So You Think this weekend.

"It's not set in stone, I'll make up my mind after his final gallop."

It will be a major shock if O'Brien pulls So You Think out.