Coolmore has confirmed it has bought a stake in Australia's best racehorse, dual Cox Plate winner So You Think.In a statement which effectively brings to an end So You Think's Australian career, Coolmore said the four-year-old would race on in Europe before joining the Irish breeding conglomerate's stallion roster."So You Think will race on for the immediate future, with it being the intention for him to join (Coolmore trainer) Aidan O'Brien for a European campaign in 2011," the statement said.A
Coolmore has confirmed it has bought a stake in Australia's best racehorse, dual Cox Plate winner So You Think.
In a statement which effectively brings to an end So You Think's Australian career, Coolmore said the four-year-old would race on in Europe before joining the Irish breeding conglomerate's stallion roster.
"So You Think will race on for the immediate future, with it being the intention for him to join (Coolmore trainer) Aidan O'Brien for a European campaign in 2011," the statement said.
A day after So You Think finished a courageous third in the Melbourne, a reported $30 million was offered to secure a half-share in the horse who is so far the best son of Coolmore's champion stallion High Chaparral.
"So You Think is as good a horse as I've ever seen and I believe that he can go on to emulate his sire High Chaparral, himself an elite racehorse, and become a sire of international repute," Coolmore boss Michael Kirwan said.
Duncan Ramage, who manages the bloodstock interests of So You Think's owner Dato Tan Chin Nam, announced on Wednesday a deal had been struck with Coolmore.
In spite of mounting speculation about So You Think's future, confirmation of the sale came as a shock to the galloper's legendary trainer Bart Cummings.
"I'm very disappointed," Cummings told News Limited newspapers.
"I was kept in the dark about this. Normally I'm part of these negotiations but this time I wasn't.
"I feel sorry for the fans because racing in Australia needs So You Think."
An Irish bookmaker, meanwhile, has shown a turn of foot akin to So You Think's brilliance in posting special markets ahead of the horse's northern hemisphere arrival.
Paddy Power is offering 6-1 about So You Think winning next year's Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and 8-1 for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The bookie has So You Think as short as 10-1 about a 2011 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory.
"He's such a versatile horse that there would be numerous opportunities for him in Europe and beyond and of course all the very best races will be considered," Coolmore's Tom Magnier said.
So You Think's Timeform rating of 133 ranks up with best horses in the world and he is the highest-rated Australian thoroughbred to travel to Europe.