Next win to Think About

From a provincial maiden debut win to favouritism in a Group 1 weight-for-age sprint in less than 10 months.

That’s been the meteoric rise of boom four-year-old Think About It, who has taken even trainer Joe Pride by surprise.

Think About It’s form surge has been so impressive TAB Fixed Odds price assessors rate him at the top of betting at $4.80 for the $1m Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm against a field including some proven top-line sprinters, most notably veteran stablemate Eduardo ($13).

“A month ago I didn’t think these two horses would be clashing in a race anytime soon,’’ Pride said.

“It’s been incredible, and rare, how quickly Think About It has gone through the grades.

“Last preparation he won a midweek race, straight to a Saturday race, then a benchmark 88 into a Group 3 race.

“He transitioned so quickly, it’s been quite amazing.’’

Think About It, a son of sire So You Think, has won seven of eight starts starting with that Kembla Grange maiden win on debut in late July last year.

Think About It has just kept winning ever since, graduating to stakes level with his Group 3 Liverpool City Cup win at Royal Randwick last February.

The gelding then resumed with a dominant win in the Listed Takeover Target Stakes at the Gosford stand-alone meeting this month.

Pride conceded that the cauldron of Group 1 weightfor-age racing will be the biggest test of Think About It’s emerging potential.

“I guess its surprising Think About It is the favourite but then I look at the race and who should be favourite ahead of him?” Pride said. “I don’t know if he will start favourite but it is one of those cases where I can see why he is popular.

“When I look at the form, I get a bit nervous because he hasn’t been in high grade Group races like Saturday and we don’t know if he is up to it.

“But there is something about this horse, the way he finishes his races tells me he will adapt to whatever is thrown at him.’’

Of his rising 10-year-old Eduardo, Pride said the veteran sprinter retained his enthusiasm for racing as demonstrated by his second to Passive Aggressive – Giga Kick ran third – in the Challenge Stakes during the Sydney autumn carnival.

Eduardo then ran unplaced in The Galaxy but Pride has freshened up the $7.8m earner and he has looked his usual dynamic self in two recent barrier trial wins.

Eduardo did not run in the Doomben 10,000 this month where he had drawn off the course. In contrast, he has drawn ideally in barrier five for the Kingsford Smith Cup.

“The way the race panned out at Doomben he would have needed to press forward to lead those horses and he would have been going way too hard to do that,’’ Pride said.

“But he’s better placed on Saturday, he’s had another trial in between and I’m happy with him, he looks fantastic and it is well worth a shot.’’