So You Think (High Chaparral) , one of New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbred exports, has passed away, aged 19.
Bred by Mike Moran and Piper Farm, So You Think was by former Windsor Park Stud stallion High Chaparral and out of Group Two-winning mare Triassic.
He was offered through Windsor Park Stud’s 2008 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale draft and was purchased by bloodstock manager Duncan Ramage on behalf of owner Dato Tan Chin Nam for $110,000.
He entered the care of legendary trainer Bart Cummings, for whom he made an instant impact as a juvenile, winning on debut over 1400m at Rosehill.
He returned as a three-year-old where he truly left his mark, winning the Gr.3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) before taking out the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) at just his fifth start.
The striking colt, with his distinct long forelock, would become a fan favourite and go on to win another four Group One races in Australia carrying Dato Tan Chin Nam’s famous silks, including defending his crown in the Cox Plate.
It was fitting that his Australian swansong was the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), a race his trainer had made his own, and he ran on gallantly to finish third behind Americain.
He was described by 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”.
So You Think was subsequently sold to Coolmore and continued his racing career in the Northern Hemisphere for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, for whom he won a further five Group One races before retiring to stud at Coolmore.
He proved to be a prolific producer, siring 66 individual stakes winners and 12 individual Group One winners to date, including three-time Group One winner Think It Over.
Coolmore announced on Monday that So You Think had passed away after succumbing to a short illness while receiving care at Scone Equine Hospital.
Coolmore’s Tom Magnier said So You Think was very popular with farm visitors and will be a massive loss to the industry.
“When people visit Coolmore, more often than not the stallion most of them really want to see is So You Think,” he said.
“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.
“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 One 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.”
