Think It Over slays his rivals in the Verry Elleegant Stakes
Kerry Parker called Think It Over (So You Think) more giant than giant-killer after another riding masterclass from Nash Rawiller helped the eight-year-old scupper raging favourite Fangirl (Sebring) in yesterday’s Verry Elleegant Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
Starting an $8.50 second-elect behind the $1.30 Fangirl, Think It Over and Rawiller exploited the inside running at Randwick to kick clear in the straight and beat Chris Waller’s mare by almost a length, bringing the gelding his third Group 1 success and his 49-year-old jockey his 69th.
The victory was reminiscent – in theme if not tactics – of Think It Over’s largest boilover in taking the 2022 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at the same course as a $41 hope, relegating $5 chance Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux) to second and leaving Verry Elleegant (Zed) herself, the $3.60 favourite, floundering in fifth.
That day, Rawiller boldly took Think It Over to the grandstand fence all alone in the straight, finding decisive better going on a heavy10 and scoring by half a length.
Yesterday the veteran jockey found another path less taken. He settled fourth, last of the vanguard as the eight-runner field split into two, and cut corners by staying two horse-widths off the fence around the turn as all others went wider on the wearing soft5 track.
While James McDonald was content to settle last and come wide around the turn on Fangirl, Think It Over – second-up after a first-up third behind the mare in the Apollo Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) – kicked strongly at the 350 metres. Drifting wider down the straight, he saw off the half-challenge of Lindermann (Lonhro), and had ample start on Fangirl to cope with her finish, beating her by three-quarters of a length.
Kembla Grange-based Parker was overjoyed after claiming his fourth Group 1.
“Everyone thinks he’s a giant-killer, I just think he’s a giant,” he said.
“I think they’ve got to get past him and he has proved that again today.
“Nash took some short cuts, I’m sure that helped at the end, but he really bounced off his first-up run and I was looking forward to the challenge today.
“It’s always good to get a Group 1 under your belt. He’s just a bottler. He doesn’t know he is an eight-year-old, he is loving it.
“The horse is flying, Nash is flying, there’s a gold one – perfect. Nash does what Nash does, he took the short cuts and then peeled out to the middle and the horse did the rest.”
Rawiller deflected praise to Think If Over, saying “he brings the best out of me, that’s for sure”.
“He is one of those horses you get so much confidence riding,” he said, “and I love riding for Kerry. He always gives me the confidence to be confident on him.”
Rawiller said he’d also learnt the inside running wasn’t as worn as some may have feared by taking a tip from apprentice Zac Lloyd after his win two races earlier on Floating (Puissance De Lune), when Randwick was downgraded to a soft5.
“Think About It never likes shifting ground but, I asked Zac Lloyd earlier what it was like down the side and he said his [Floating] was a wet tracker but it didn’t miss a beat,” Rawiller said.
“I kept that in mind and you go out two or three horses [wide)]and that is where everyone is trying to get to. We were just able to slide through and clear enough where we wanted to get to.
“Without going for him I’d saved four lengths and he was full of running at the top of the straight.
“It’s a long run home at Randwick but when he heard her (Fangirl) coming, he found again and nothing was going to go past him today.”
Think It Over’s more recent form is testament to the nous and patience of his trainer and his veterinary team. After that 2022 Queen Elizabeth Stakes win, the gelding injured a tendon and didn’t race for another 16 months.
But he came back and trumped some more vaunted rivals again in his third run of the campaign when taking the 7 Stakes (1600m) – non black type but worth $1 million – over yesterday’s course, relegating favourite Zaaki and second-favourite Fangirl to the minor placings.
“He will just head towards the Queen Elizabeth, that’s our main goal this prep, so far so good,” said Parker.
“He is just a thrill, he’s the best. He loves racing so much.”
Think It Over is one of 11 individual Group 1 winners for Coolmore’s superb sire So You Think (High Chaparral), who’s run second to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) on the Australian general sires’ table for the past two seasons, and is in that spot again this term.
A home-bred for Richard Johnston’s Bylong Park, Think It Over now has 14 wins and 13 placings from 41 starts, and has claimed more than $8.4million in prize-money.
He’s the best of four winners from five runners out of the unraced Personal Service (Zabeel), who died in 2022. She was a half-sister to Group 1 winners Universal Prince (Scenic) and Universal Queen (Scenic), and to the dam of Group 1 ATC Coolmore Classic winner Krone (Eurozone).
Soon after hitting the highs by winning his first ride on Golden Slipper favourite Storm Boy (Justify) in the Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), McDonald was brought back to earth after conceding too large a start on Fangirl.
“She ran super. She made a good surge into the race. The track is deteriorating through the day. She ran bravely,” McDonald said.
Think It Over became the first winner of what was the Chipping Norton Stakes since it was renamed after Verry Elleegant (Zed), just three weeks before the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner died while giving birth to her first foal last month.