So You Think and Reliable Man could be in line for QIPCO Champion Stakes

So You Think looks increasingly likely to contest the richest race ever run in Britain.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

So You Think, the Australian champion who moved to Aidan O’Brien’s stable this year, has come out of last Sunday’s Arc in great from and looks highly likely to contest the £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes on Saturday, the richest race ever run in Britain.

A winner of three Group 1 races in Europe this season – the Tattersalls Gold Cup and Irish Champion Staks in Ireland and the Coral-Eclipse Stakes in the UK – So You Think came fourth in the Arc in his first race over 12 furlongs (2400 metres).

All his best form is at 10 furlongs (2000 metres), the distance of the QIPCO Champion, and he is likely to start a warm favourite if he is given the go-ahead to run by his owners, Coolmore.

"He’s a definite possible for the QIPCO Champion Stakes at this stage and beyond that there is the Breeders’ Cup," said O’Brien yesterday.

"The boys will decide later on, but if it were up to me he’d run every week such is his constitution. He has come out of the Arc in unbelievable form."

He is now as short as 7-4 favourite in the ante-post betting, but will face formidable opposition in the form of the King George winner, Nathaniel, the Sir Henry Cecil-trained pair Twice Over, who is seeking a Champion Stakes hat-trick, and Midday, and French challengers Cirrus Des Aigles and Reliable Man.

The latter, who was an impressive winner of the French Derby in June, also ran in the Arc where he clearly found the ground too fast. 

Reliable Man’s trainer, Alain de Royer-Dupre, said: "He has come out of his race well and I will confirm his engagement on Monday and work him early next week. But his presence is going-dependent and we would like some cut."

Wigmore Hall, Green Destiny, Ransom Note and the Godolphin pair Casamento and Dubai Prince, all of whom won their most recent outings, could also feature in the line-up for what promises to be one of the races of the season.

Before it, Frankel faces his eagerly anticipated date with destiny in the £1m Queen Elizabeth II Stakes against Immortal Verse and Excelebration, while the earlier races could see the likes of Blue Bunting, Dancing Rain, Deacon Blues, Moonlight Cloud, Fame And Glory and Opinion Poll competing at the spectacular climax to the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Series.

To book tickets via Ascot for QIPCO British Champions Day, CLICK HERE.