So You Think - The beast

Farrh and Ebony Flyer placed second, but Jackson was the big disappointment and only beat 3 home. At this point, I haven't read anything that went amiss with the Durban July favourite and connections are still scratching their heads on his poor showing. It certainly wasn't the ride because he was ideally placed throughout. Anyway, racing throws a few nuggets here and there at times.

Nathaniel won the Coral Eclipse and I must say that he surprised me with his fitness coming from a long layoff. It remains to be seen if the race has taken a lot from him but if he reproduces that kind of form, he will surely be a leading contender in the top middle-distance races to come.

It was sad to see So You Think retired after his injury that led to his defection from the Eclipse. I've always thought this horse to be a wonder horse and it is a tragedy that Aidan O'Brien took so long to get to the bottom of him. The horse looks like and is a freak. Not wanting to rollback to last year where he lost some of his lustre in some high-profile defeats, but there was an excuse for each and everyone of them.

Prince of Wales's Stakes 2011. Narrowly beaten by Rewilding because was under-done by O'Brien. Self-confessed trainer error.

Arc 2011. 4th to Danedream. Probably wouldn't have won because Danedream was un-catchable that day but was left too much to do at the back by Heffernan. He should have come out second. Pilot error.

Qipco Champions Stakes 2011. Narrow second to Cirrus des Aigles. The race came after only 13 days rest since his Arc outing, so he was tremendous into coming out second. Would have won if the races were further apart.

Breeders Cup Classic 2011. Beaten 3.5 lengths into 6th. He ran honourably considering dirt is not his surface and it was his 3rd Group 1 race in 5 weeks. He would have fared better if he had skipped the Qipco Champion Stakes above.

Finally, Dubai World Cup 2012. Honourable 4th on a synthetic surface that was not to his liking. However, this time, connections should be applauded for taking aim at racing's richest race.

Between all these heart-breaking defeats, So You Think still won 5 Group 1's on European soil. The horse's a legend. Without getting into the British-Aussie squabble as to how good he was, there is no doubt that if one had to select any horse from any era to run a 10-12 furlong race, So You Think would be at the forefront of many minds. Just like the Sea The Stars, Deep Impact, Dancing Brave, Nijinski, Ribot and Sea Bird. To me, he was that good.