Thursday, 21 June 2012: Trainer Aidan O'Brien was quick to acknowledge champion Australian trainer Bart Cummings after So You Think registered his tenth Group One win in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.
Formerly trained in Australia by Cummings,
So You Think produced one of his best performances since he joined the O'Brien team in Ireland with his decisive two and a quarter lengths victory.
The Queen's high class four-year-old Carlton House finished a game second, a result that denied Her Majesty a fairytale Royal Ascot win her Diamond Jubilee year.
Ridden confidently by the trainer's 19-year-old son Joseph O'Brien,
So You Think 
made amends for his shock loss in the 2011 edition of the Group One event in what may have been his penultimate start before retirement to stud.
The six-year-old, who won five G1 races in Australia for Cummings, travelled easily in third place behind the pacemakers until turning for home and looked set to record an easy win when he cruised to the lead in the straight.
However
Carlton House gained a split between runners and sprinted quickly from midffield to join
So You Think on his inside.
For a few strides he looked to have the measure of the favourite but
So You Think responded to the challenge in grand style, showing his class to forge clear and urge Aidan O'Brien to admit that he had listened to the advice of Cummings in preparing the stallion for his current campaign.
"I think we've had him a year and a half and it's taken me that long to learn how to train him," O'Brien admitted.
"We went back and listened to what everybody was saying about him, listened to what Bart was saying and telling us what to do and what not to do.
"I was delighted to hear what Bart had to say as he was speaking from the heart. I was probably over-working the horse and galloping the speed out of him instead of letting him be natural.
"I started off on the wrong leg with him and tried to make him stay a mile and a half and did too much with him.
"We're just delighted to get him back and all I can say is sorry it took me so long to get him back to where everyone in Australia said he was.
"If he wasn't such a great horse I'd have made a right mess of him.
"We expected a big run today, we felt like we had him in a place that he was never in before with us, which is incredible."
O'Brien said
Coolmore Stud wants
So You Think to end his career with a second successive win in the G1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 7 but said he would press for retirement plans to be delayed.
"Sandown is in our head as a cut-off point but we'll be pleading hard now that we have him in this place. It's a business decision," O'Brien said.
Retirement after the Eclipse is necessary to fit the time frame required to ship
So You Think back to Australia for the start of his stud career at
Coolmore Stud this spring.
Joseph O'Brien, landing his first Royal Ascot win, said he was never worried when Carlton House joined
So You Think in the lead in the straight.
"Once
So You Think could see the horse on his inside he was never going to be beat," said the young Irish rider.
"He has loads of class and can quicken. When things work out he's an exceptional horse.
"I'm very lucky to get to ride him."
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 | | Posted by apparition, on 23-6-2012 1:20:08 AM
Funny, for a horse who has improved he beat sri putra and planteur by less than last year...not knocking him he is a top horse but didnt run better just had weaker opposition. aob story is clearly pr to restore his stud value. They even grew his mane to make him look like he did "when he was a wonder horse". ”
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| | Posted by Poindexter, on 22-6-2012 4:49:09 PM
Old Hand.... Seen a few of Yore Post''s lately,
Ewe need a Name Change.. "Grumpy Old Hand" ”
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| | Posted by Josh, on 22-6-2012 12:14:31 PM
Crotts,
It''s a bit pointless to compare times post 2006 on the remodelled track to those run prior to that. ”
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| | Posted by Crotts, on 21-6-2012 10:37:40 PM
Apparently second fastest time in the races history. What a shame we didnt see the best of him from the time he got over there. Aiden yr a dud, I''ve thought that ever since Septimus came here with two others & the three of them lead the Melbourne Cup field running 58sec for the first 1000m then all compounded to be tailed off. ”
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| | Posted by angusdonavan, on 21-6-2012 8:23:03 PM
What a grand horse he is. ”
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| | Posted by Whip, on 21-6-2012 6:22:05 PM
I was wrong in thinking you were big enough to apologise, I forgot you were a jockey. For what it''s worth I do have a little more respect now.........for AOB that is!! ”
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| | Posted by oldhand, on 21-6-2012 5:39:14 PM
Whip,
Hahaha, you gotta be a romantic! we have nothing to apologise about you can wait until hell freezes over before I do that.
Your wrong more times than your right and I''ve never seen you apologise yet and saying that, a trainer who has trained so many winners can''t be all that bad. ”
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| | Posted by hammertime, on 21-6-2012 10:42:18 AM
fantastic to see SYT win in such style at Ascot. All of Oz knew how good he really was - just hope BC can continue to fly the flag this weekend. Go "our Queen" ”
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| | Posted by Whip, on 21-6-2012 10:14:32 AM
Very humble of AOB to say "all I can say is sorry it took me so long to get him back to where everyone in Australia said he was." it seems the "best" UK trainer isnt always right. So one would expect those who countered the criticism like Patsy, TOTR and oldhand to follow suit and apologise if they are big enough. YOUR OPINIONS HAVE ONCE AGAIN PROVED NULL AND VOID.
Vindication twice in 2 days, wonderful. Now for the prime target, eat Frankel, unless Cecil is afraid of destiny and dodges the bullet out of fear. ”
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| | Posted by Anonymous, on 21-6-2012 9:15:21 AM
Stuff the breeding, give him another year on the track to show how good he truly is ”
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| | Posted by shane, on 21-6-2012 7:58:28 AM
I''d take anything O''Brien says about SYT with grain of salt. After all, he is just about to stand for Coolmore.
Last year''s SYT would have won that race as well. ”
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| | Posted by Told you so, on 21-6-2012 5:44:21 AM
Finally AOB admits he (and some very, very poor rides) has butchered SYT. I blame his arrogance in thinking that he was better than Bart/Australia. To all those people that have been defending AOB on this website and saying ''AOB has trained 200+ Grp 1 winners, SYT is only a good horse etc'' - hang your heads in shame. Would be great to see SYT race on to right the wrongs of 12 months ago, or bring him back to Australia for a third Cox Plate - with Bart training of cos. ”
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