Friday, 6 July 2012: Australian champion So You Think pulled up lame after exercising at Ballydoyle in Ireland on Thursday and will be retired without another race start.
The Aidan O'Brien stable reported that had pulled a muscle in his hind quarter and will be withdrawn from Saturday's Group One Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park.
So You Think won the Eclipse last year and the race had been selected as his final career start before he beginning preparations for the start of his stud career in Australia this spring.
Owners
Coolmore Stud have confirmed that he will now enter quarantine on Saturday.
The 10-time G1 winner will be flown to Australia in August to stand at
Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley at a fee of $66,000, a record for a first season sire in Australia.
Aidan O'Brien said it had been a privilege to train
So You Think in the second phase of his career after the stallion began his career in Australia with Bart Cummings. Each trainer prepared the six-year-old to win five G1 races.
“
So You Think is an extraordinary horse and it was a real privilege to have had him here at Ballydoyle on loan from Australia,” said O'Brien.
Coolmore's Tom Magnier said it was a big disappointment to retire
So You Think without the chance to win a second Eclipse Stakes.
"It's a big disappointment that he'll miss the Eclipse, but he's had a wonderful racing career and now it's time for him to shine at stud,” said Magnier.
“His book reads like a who's who of all the best mares and breeders so he'll get the best possible start.”
