Bart Cummings will be a spectator when Black Caviar runs in the TJ Smith Stakes but fancies his chances in the other two Group One races at Randwick.
If it wasn’t for Black Caviar, Cummings would be assured of another Horse of the Year title with dual Cox Plate winner So You Think, now based in Ireland with Coolmore.
So You Think had a stellar spring with his only defeat when third in the Melbourne Cup but Black Caviar’s autumn has overshadowed his feats.
The master trainer has moved on from the disappointment of losing So You Think to the northern hemisphere and owner Dato Tan Chin Nam has done a bit more “thinking”.
I Think I Do will take on New Zealand star Jimmy Choux in the AJC Australian Derby while Do You Think is favourite for the AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes for two-year-olds.
“I have had a bit of luck in the Derby and I think this horse is the right type to challenge the favourite,” Cummings said.
“He goes all right and I’m convinced he is a stayer so there will be no problems with the distance.”
So far I Think I Do has registered one win from seven starts but his fast-closing second to Fast Clip in last Saturday’s Tulloch Stakes is what has given Cummings faith he can do the job.
He is also confident with Do You Think who is favourite for the Sires (1400m) following an injury to Smart Missile trained by Cummings’ son Anthony.
Do You Think was the emergency for the $3.5 million Golden Slipper but with no scratchings on Saturday morning he instead started in the Baillieu Handicap (1400m) which he duly won.
Ironically, there were two late scratchings from the Slipper, Smart Missile and Fast And Sexy who both played up behind the barriers.
“I think he was a good chance in the Sires even with Anthony’s horse in the race,” Cummings said.
“I reckon he would have beaten him.”
Dato Tan’s predilection for naming horses with Think in their names is in honour of his dual Melbourne Cup winner Think Big after whom his stud is named.
Do You Think was originally named Ingham because he is out of a mare called Chickens, the affectionate name for the late Jack Ingham who, along with his brother Bob, spent a fortune on racing stock with the profits from their poultry business.
Bob Ingham and his family race Fast And Sexy and after a family meeting it was decided to ask for a change of name for Dato Tan’s colt.
“I wanted to call it Rethink but I was a bit too late coming up with that one,” Cummings said.
It won’t matter what either one is called if they can deliver Cummings a 265th and possibly 266th Group One victory.
AAP TURF
