So You Think has produced world-class performances from 7f to 2m
PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)Think has the quality to go for Arc-Classic double
WORLD CLASS: an analysis of the international scene according to Racing Post Ratings
SO YOU THINK'S schedule is still undecided beyond the Irish Champion Stakes, but in light of Pour Moi's retirement and another Breeders' Cup Classic favourite getting turned over at the weekend, the Coolmore team could choose to shoot for the most prestigious double in world racing.
While a trip to the Cox Plate (he would be long odds-on to win) may still be on the cards, So You Think remains the biggest name on the global scene who has not been given an end-of-season target and recent events suggest he would be a leading player in either the Arc or Breeders' Cup Classic.
With Coolmore's leading Arc candidate (Pour Moi) retiring due to injury and their leading Classic hope (Await The Dawn) defeated at York recently, So You Think could represent them in either race - or both.
There is a month betweenthe two, which are widely recognised as the most important races in Europe and the Americas and which regularly throw up the best performances in the world.
The double has never been achieved, although Sakhee almost pulled it off in 2001, losing out by a nose to Tiznow in the Classic after winning the Arc by six lengths.
Sakhee was actually the only horse to ever attempt it, since the difference in trip and surface means that most Arc winners who attempt to follow up at the Breeders' Cup opt for the Turf. Interestingly, the five who tried the Turf were all beaten.
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First up, the horse himself is an incredibly versatile individual who thrives on racing.
He has produced world-class performances at distances from 7f to 2m with remarkable consistency and with such minuscule spacing between his races that he could probably tackle the Cox Plate, Champion Stakes and Japan Cup as well if quarantine regulations allowed.
The second factor is the quality of the races this year. The Arc had looked like being a red-hot renewal, but with favourite Pour Moi and Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa both injured and Workforce hanging away his chance in the King George it is beginning to open up.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is also wide open. Yet another favourite was floored at the weekend, with Coil eased to 10-1 after running last in the Travers. He hadn't trained well on the surface in the lead up, but was still really disappointing.
Travers winner Stay Thirsty became the latest horse to pick up the favourite's mantle for the Classic, which was previously held by injured duo Animal Kingdom and First Dude, as well as the subsequently defeated pair Await The Dawn and Twirling Candy.
Stay Thirsty posted a career-best RPR of 123 for his Travers success, which is another small step in the right direction, although more will be required to match the normal standard for success.
Hemanaged to extend his superiority over Moonshine Mullin from the Jim Dandy in the Travers, but the placed horses Rattlesnake Bridge and J W Blue both arrived without any graded black type and highlight the limit of this form in the context of the Classic.
Stay Thirsty has, at least, managed to string back-to-back dirt victories together, so he does have more going for him than the previous market leaders and if he can continue to improve in the coming months he should be thereabouts. He looks the leading three-year-old Classic challenger in the absence of Animal Kingdom.
Another horse who entered Classic calculations this weekend was Acclamation, who made all to win the Pacific Classic at Del Mar by a head from Twirling Candy (125).
It was a wonderfully judged ride from Patrick Valenzuela, who hit five near-perfect 24-second quarters to gain the five-year-old his first synthetic win from six attempts.
This was his third Californian Grade 1 success in a row after earlier wins in the Charles Whittingham Memorial and Eddie Read handicaps on turf.
A winning mark of 125 means he joins a host of horses rated in the mid-120s for the Classic, but there is a question over whether he will be equally effective on the dirt and whether he will get such a perfect ride at Churchill Downs.
There is of course a question over whether So You Think will act on the dirt, but there is no question mark over his quality and in this field he might just outclass them.
This was the strongest weekend of US racing so far in 2011 and, as anticipated, a star was born on Sunday when The Factor stamped his authority over some top-class older sprinters on his comeback run in the Pat O'Brien Stakes.
He set some very stern fractions up front, racing alongside the superb Smiling Tiger, but as they turned in it was the youngster who managed to maintain the pace while the leading oldersprinter faded into fourth.
With this brilliant success, Bob Baffert's colt became the saviour of the US Classic generation, who have come in for some stick this season, but now clearly have a really top-notch colt in their ranks.
This was just his fifth career start and fourth win. His early form has worked out well (he beat King's Bishop winner Caleb's Posse by six-and-a-quarter lengths in the Rebel), but this was a career-best performance and, with an RPR of 129+, he moves clear at the top of the US pecking order.
He is expected to run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, with the Dirt Mile also an option, but he is unlikely to race beyond a mile again after showing so much speed here.
Missing out on the Classics due to injury may have actually helped him in the long run, as he looked unlikely to see out the longer distances in races which may have taken their toll and he now returns fresh for an autumn sprint campaign where he will fly the flag for his generation.
This was a massive performance off a four-month layoff and he may yet be capable of better - America can call off the search for a superstar.
There were two highly anticipated comebacks this weekend, but while The Factor showed he has clearly leapt forward, Uncle Mo showed he is unlikely to recapture his brilliant juvenile best.
He narrowly failed in hisbid for a winning return to action in the King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga, having missed the summer season with a rare liver disease.
He had plenty going for him on Saturday but just came up short, finishing a nose behind Caleb's Posse (122) with an RPR of 122 (2lb off his best).
Although he had been off the track a while and was returning from illness, Uncle Mo was reportedly as fit as trainer Todd Pletcher could get him.
Pletcher was confident. The colt had gone well off a break in the past, they had given him some serious work in the build up and they were aiming for a winning return.
With so much in his favour, and even though he lost a shoe coming out of the gate, the former champion juvenile can not be expected to improve a great deal from what he showed on Saturday in what was a very strongly run Grade 1.
The positive view of Saturday's run is that he is clearly still competitive at the top level, but the negative is that he now looks unlikely to build on his smart juvenile form and is almost certainly not going to finish the year as champion of his generation.
This view was confirmed by Pletcher himself when he suggested, afterhis other leading sophomore had landed the Travers Stakes, that Stay Thirsty was the best three-year-old in the country. That was before The Factor ran at Del Mar.
The fairytale comeback may not be over just yet for Uncle Mo, however,and he could yet double up at the Breeders' Cup if connections train their aspirations from the Classic to the Dirt Mile.
The Dirt Mile is generally not a strong race, with the four previous winners earning an average winning RPR of 120.5. Uncle Mo's latest RPR of 122 would have been good enough to land all four renewals and it could be enough this year provided The Factor opts for the Sprint.
The Breeders' Cup is really starting to take shape now in what had been a quiet year Stateside, with potential headliners including The Factor, Goldikova, Uncle Mo and maybe even So You Think.
Options remain open for So You Think and he could still end up goingfor a record-breaking third Cox Plate, although, perversely, it would probably mean more for Australian racing (and New Zealand breeding) if he were to stay in the northern hemisphere and showcase his quality in other countries than to return home for their premier prize.
We should find out next week which path they will take. So You Think runs on Saturday in the Irish Champion Stakes. Beyond that, who knows?
TOP OF THE CLASS: The Factor 129+ Bob Baffert (US) (Pat O'Brien Stakes, Del Mar, 7f, August 28)
Overall World Top Ten
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Frankel (GB) | Sussex Stakes | 137T |
| 2 |
Black Caviar (Aus) | Newmarket Handicap | 133T |
| 3 | So You Think (Ire) | Eclipse | 132T |
| 4 | Workforce (GB) | Eclipse | 131T |
| 5 | Canford Cliffs (GB) | Queen Anne | 130T |
| Rewilding (GB) | Prince Of Wales's Stakes |
130T | |
| 7 | The Factor (US) | Pat O'Brien Stakes | 129A |
| 8 |
Hay List (Aus) | All Aged Stakes | 127T |
| Rocket Man (Sing) | Lion City Cup |
127T | |
| Twice Over (GB) | International | 127T |
Top Turf Performers
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Frankel (GB) | Sussex Stakes |
137 |
| 2 | Black Caviar (Aus) | Newmarket Handicap | 133 |
| 3 | So You Think (Ire) | Eclipse | 132 |
| 4 | Workforce(GB) | Eclipse | 131 |
| 5 | Canford Cliffs (GB) | Queen Anne | 130 |
| Rewilding (GB) | Prince Of Wales's Stakes |
130 | |
| 7 |
Hay List (Aus) | All Aged Stakes | 127 |
| Rocket Man (Sing) | Lion City Cup |
127 | |
| Twice Over (GB) | International | 127 | |
| 10 | Goldikova (Fr) | Queen Anne |
126 |
| Nathaniel (GB) | King George | 126 | |
| Whobegotyou (Aus) | Rokk Ebony Futurity |
126 |
Top Dirt Performers
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | Animal Kingdom (US) | Kentucky Derby | 126 |
| 2 | Big Drama (US) | Mr Prospector Stakes |
125 |
| Tizway (US) | Whitney Hcap |
125 | |
| 4 | Uncle Mo (US) | Timely Writer | 124 |
| 5 | Trappe Shot (US) | True North Hcap | 123 |
| Smart Falcon (Jap) | Teio Sho | 123 | |
| Stay Thirsty (US) | Travers Stakes | 123 | |
| 8 | Awesome Maria (US) | Ogden Phipps | 122 |
| Caleb's Posse (US) | King's Bishop | 122 | |
| Game On Dude (US) | Charles Town Classic | 122 | |
| Premier Pegasus (US) | San Felipe | 122 | |
| Havre De Grace (US) | Delaware Handicap | 122 |
Top AW Performers
| Name (country trained) | Race | Rating | |
| 1 | The Factor (US) | Pat O'Brien | 129 |
| 2 | Smiling Tiger (US) | Triple Bend Handicap | 126 |
| Rocket Man (Sing) | Golden Shaheen | 126 | |
| 4 | Acclamation (US) | Pacific Classic | 125 |
| Twirling Candy (US) | Hollywood Gold Cup | 125 | |
| 6 |
Twice Over (GB) |
Al Maktoum Challenge R3 |
123 |
| 7 | Game On Dude (US) | Hollywood Gold Cup | 122 |
| Sidney's Candy (US) | Mervyn Leroy Hcap | 122 | |
| 9 | Crown Of Thorns (US) | Mervyn Lero/Pat O'Brien | 121 |
| Euroears (US) | Bing Crosby | 121 |
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