“I’ve waited a long time for a horse like this.”
You would think that is quite a statement of commendation coming from trainer Joe Pride about his Stradbroke Handicap winner, Think About It, particularly given that Pride also trains, amongst others, the likes Eduardo (a fifteen-time winner who has earned just under $8 million in prize-money) and Private Eye (a ten-time winner who has raked in $6.2 million to date).
There is plenty to like about the Think About It, of course, not least that the Proven Thoroughbred’s $70 000 purchase has now won nine out of his ten career starts and has already earned more than forty times his purchase price after only ten-and-a-half months of racing … but, what is it away from any financial consideration that has particularly caught Pride’s eye … what excites him about the son of the dual Cox Plate winner So You Think … what makes him different?
“It’s where I am hoping he is going to make it to that gets me excited,” explained Pride.
“As a trainer we all aspire to train a champion racehorse and while I have trained some very good horses, there are none that I would put into that category. They’ve all at different times being beatable and to have a horse that … at the moment anyway … seems to have a bit of an air of invincibility about him … that is a special kind of horse.
“When you have that kind of horse, you don’t have to duck and weave any opposition. You just put them in the race and people dodge you … that’s the kind of aura you associate with your Sunline, your Northerly etc … genuine, champion racehorses.
“That’s the kind of horse I want … and that’s the heights I am hoping Think About It will reach.
“Don’t get me wrong. He will be beaten somewhere along the way. I know that … but it seems at the moment that more often than not, when he steps out there, he is going to win.”
“It’s quite amazing what Think About It has been able to do in such a short space of time,” said Pride. “The way he has just been able to keep climbing … you can bring on anything for this horse.
“He had his first run last July (where he won a Maiden at Kembla Grange), so he has gone from a Maiden winner to a dual Group 1 winner in less than twelve months … and to be a Stradbroke winner in after less than twelve months of racing is phenomenal.”
Think About It’s only defeat in his ten starts came in his third outing.
“Rory (Hutchings) will put his hand up about that,” continued Pride. “He just got him into an awkward spot, and he just had too much work to do from the corner … although the horse wasn’t as good then as he is now.
“It certainly doesn’t bother me. In some sense given where Think About It has kicked on now to be nine wins out of ten, that defeat probably released some pressure before it could build.
“I don’t know what it would have been like training him if he was still an unbeaten horse. It would probably be a bit scary.”
The Everest is the next major target for Think About It … and his place in that rich, big race field is already secure with slot holder Newgate Farm having made a shrewd early move, securing Think About It as their runner even before his Stradbroke win.
Think About It’s early selection gives Pride the advantage of being able to set the horse along a preferred preparation path, safe in the knowledge that his rising star is in the field … while some other runners might still have to compete in lead-up races in order to try to impress and attract slot holders to push for their selection.
“The other thing that is going to dictate his preparation is the lack of time,” said Pride, with The Everest being just four months away.
“But, to go to a 1200m race with him … whether he already had a slot or not … I wouldn’t want him to have more than one run going into the race.
“He is probably a 1400m to a mile horse, so to have him at his best over 1200m, it has got to be early in the prep … and I’m pretty confident the Premiere Stakes is where we will take him next.
While there is no question about Think About It’s superior ability, his ‘full of himself’ behavior … to be polite … in the parade ring prior to the Stradbroke, begs the question … what is Think About It like, character-wise, at home.
“Completely different to what you see in the parade ring,” offered Pride.
“He is a willing horse in trackwork. He is not a lazy, casual horse like some good horses can be, but what he does in the enclosure you will never see from him at any other time. He is quite a good horse to handle.
“That parade enclosure behaviour has been a constant.
“He has had ten starts and he has done it in every single one of them so far. I’m looking at it as his way of psyching himself up, so I’m not sure I’d like him to change anything.”
History shows that most champion racehorses have reached that status in partnership with a regular rider.
While Pride is the first to admit that there is still a long way to go for his hope for Think About It to be realized in that regard, Sam Clipperton, who has ridden Think About It in every run in his current seven race unbeaten sequence, is the jockey in the pound seats to take the trip to the top with Think About It should that journey eventuate.
“Sam has quickly worked out Think About It’s strength and that the way to ride him is to keep him out of trouble … to give him clear air, as we say,” said Pride.
“While he is doing that … it doesn’t matter if the horse is a little deep, he’s out of trouble and able to do his best,” concluded Pride.
And as for Clipperton himself, the highly capable multiple Group 1 winning rider is also in awe of the current status of Think About It.
That fact was quite evidence in Clipperton’s post-race comments after the Stradbroke.
“I’m quite speechless. I just purely and simply ride the horse on feel and the feel he gives me is like no horse has ever given me … I’m truly grateful … to ride this amazing horse.”
A relatively short comment, but one which says so much.
While, of course, nothing is guarantee and all those involved with Think About It acknowledge that fact and don’t want to get ahead of themselves, nobody can argue the point that Think About It has established a very special, formidable record from which to launch himself into the future.
Racing always owes its champions … past, present and future … more of a debt than some might realise.
Only time will tell if Think About It gets to that level, but, with both Joe Pride and Sam Clipperton, two vastly experienced racing identities not prone to exaggeration, being ‘blown away’ by Think About It’s prowess as a racehorse, all things being equal, chances are Think About It could not only serve his trainer and jockey well into the future, but he could also play an invaluable part in lifting the profile of an industry which is always on the lookout for its next champion.
