Just over a month out from the 2010 Melbourne Cup on Tuesday November 2 at Flemington, the Races.com.au team are assessing the chances the top Cup contenders, including So You Think, have of taking out the 150th anniversary of this iconic race to help punters with their Melbourne Cup betting!
First up we have a look at one of the stars from the stables of the legendary Bart Cummings, So You Think.
Cummings, vying for his unprecedented 13th Melbourne Cup victory this spring, has a firm hold over the current Melbourne Cup odds with three of his entries occupying the top lines of betting at Sportsbet.
His Queensland Derby winning mare Dariana is equal $10 favourite with last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Shocking, while his JRA Cup winner Precedence and So You Think are tied as the $11 second elects.
So can So You Think rise to the same heights that saw the son of High Chaparral win the Cox Plate last year by becoming the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner?
Horse Facts – So You Think
- Jockey: Steve Arnold has been aboard for both of So You Thinks spring starts this season but a jockey is yet to be confirmed if So You Think runs in the Melbourne Cup.
- Trainer: Bart Cummings
- Owners: Dato Tan Chin Nam, Tunku Ahmad Yahaya
- Age: 4YO
- Gender: Entire
- Breeding: by High Chaparral (IRE) from Triassic (NZ)
- Career: 8-5-2-0
- Prize Money: $2,588,850
- Current Melbourne Cup Odds: $11 [sportsbet]
So You Think was a lightly raced and little known three-year-old at last year’s Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival that rose to fame with an upset win in the 2009 Cox Plate.
Following his smart Cox Plate victory, Cummings continued So You Think’s campaign with a run in the Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m) on the final Cup Carnival meeting at Flemington, where So You Think backed up brilliantly finishing a gallant second to All American.
After a long spell that commenced after his Emirates Stakes win, So You Think resumed racing on August 28 coasting to victory first-up in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Having improved in fitness, So You Think beat a quality field in the Memsie including weight-for-age warhorse Whobegotyou sending a warning out to the spring contenders that he was back and had lost none of his form.
So You Think then scored a second spring win a fortnight ago, running rings around his rivals including runner-up Dariana in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m).
So You Think’s 2010 Spring Form:
- – Won the Group 2 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 28 ahead of Whobegotyou
- – Won the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on September 18 ahead of Dariana
- – Set to target the Group 1 Yalumba Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on October 9 next
With two consecutive wins this season and the Cups King as a trainer, it is little wonder the punters are getting behind So You Think to win the Melbourne Cup.
The only concern is whether the Kiwi-bred champion can last the testing 3200m distance of the Melbourne Cup, as his maximum distance win is only 2040m.
There is also the question of his connections’ plans as the 2010 Cox Plate on October 23 is also a major target for So You Think seeking back-to-back wins in the $3 million weight-for-age feature.
Second declarations for the 2010 Melbourne Cup will be taken next Tuesday October 5 and the chance So You Think has of making the 24-horse final field will be made clearer then.
If you want to get in on the early odds available on So You Think, or any of your other favourite horses, to win the Melbourne Cup sign up with [sportsbet] now and receive a free $300 bet to get you started!
