Thank God for New Zealand and Australian racing.
Yesterday morning's defeat of So You Think in the Group One Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot was a disgrace.
The New Zealand-bred champ should never have been beaten.
The fact he was beaten by his own pacemaker and rider is unforgivable. Why would
you want a pacemaker for So You Think?
He beats his opposition with an incredibly high cruising speed.
Put in a pacemaker and you take away his advantage, particularly one that went berserk in front over the 2000m distance.
When the pacemaker had had enough Ryan Moore took over on So You Think for the long run up the Ascot home straight and instead of holding the $1.35 favourite up, he sprinted him hard fully 400m out.
That rugged stayer Rewilding got up and beat So You Think in the last two bounds surprised no one who knew his racing style in Australia.
And it shouldn't have been a surprise to trainer Aidan O'Brien either, but it appeared to be.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to winning owners Godolphin, said Ballydoyle's (O'Brien's stables) decision to deploy Jan Vermeer as a pacemaker handed their horse the advantage.
The winner will be aimed at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes next month.
O'Brien came out and declared the defeat was probably his fault.
If you owned the horse you wouldn't be happy.
Particularly if you'd paid A$60 million for him.
