So You Think, one of the greatest racehorses and sires of the modern era, has passed away during the week of the Cox Plate – the very race that created his legend.
Coolmore Stud supremo Tom Magnier, who described So You Think as an “Australian icon”. revealed the striking, near-black stallion died in the Scone Equine Clinic this afternoon due to complications from ongoing health issues.
It’s a tragic blow to Coolmore who also lost another of their champion sires, Wootton Bassett, three weeks ago after he contracted influenza.
So You Think, an international champion who won 10 Group 1 races, was only 19 years of age and was in the prime of stallion career.
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“When people visit Coolmore, more often than not the stallion most of them really want to see is So You Think,’’ Magnier 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.’’
On the racetrack, So You Think was trained by the legendary Bart Cummings to win five Group 1 races including successive Cox Plates in 2009-10.
Cummings said of So You Think: “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 then purchased by Coolmore after his second Cox Plate and sent to Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien where he won another five Group 1 races in the northern hemisphere including the Eclipse Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes and Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
“He provided me with many great memories on racetracks throughout the world as both a racehorse and stallion,’’ Magnier said.
“We are so lucky to have had him and watch him develop into one of the country’s truly elite sires.
“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.’’
As a stallion, So You Think will be remembered for his remarkable consistency, finishing in the top 10 on the sires table for each of the last five seasons and coming second to I Am Invincible twice.
So You Think sire 12 individual Group 1 winners including 2023 The Everest winner Think About It and multiple Group 1 winner Think It Over (Queen Elizabeth Stakes)
Timeform gave So You Think a rating of 133 which ranks him among the greatest Australian racehorses of all time and he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.
Originally published as ‘He was an absolute gentleman’: Coolmore mourns death of Cox Plate-winning stallion So You Think
