Think About It (-117.65) has continued his extraordinary winning run by claiming the Group 2 Premiere Stakes at Randwick, which has seen his career record improve to 10 wins from 11 starts.
After being sent around as an odds-on favourite with online bookmakers, punters that took the short odds would have been worried when the runner-up Hawaii Five Oh (+750) charged at the leader in the final 100m, but as winners do, Think About It got his head down to get the photo.
Unlike most of his wins to date, the son of So You Think had to bide his time on the inside and take an inside run along the rail, but once Sam Clipperton pushed the button at the 300m mark he exploded with a burst of acceleration to hit the front.
Going off the performances of Hawaii Five Oh and Bella Nipotina (+600) – who filled the placings and finished off the race strong – you would expect that they would get two of the remaining spots in The Everest on October 14.
2023 Group 2 Premiere Stakes Replay – Think About It | T: Joseph Pride | J: Sam Clipperton
After taking out the Premiere Stakes with his stable star, Joseph Pride was very happy with the return and he spoke post-race.
“Overall pretty pleased with the way he's handled himself today,” Pride said.
“He sort of looked a bit lost when he got to the front there and he's up against these big boys now he can't afford to do anything wrong.
“I'm sure it's the first time I've ever seen him ridden in behind them on the inside, there's not a lot of horses enjoy that.
“He's been a horse that Sam (Clipperton) has always been able to give a lot of galloping room to.
“I've got two to worry about so I can balance my stress between two horses and we'll be back here in couple of weeks' time with two horses ready to go.”
Sam Clipperton has continued his amazing run with Think About It, and he spoke post-race after recording his eighth win from as many rides.
“When a horse like these returns, his picket fence is starting to get a little bit hard to ignore,” Clipperton said.
“He's a horse that even though he's doing what he's doing, multiple Group 1 winner, he's still learning.
“When I ended up on the fence, the place I didn't want to be, when Lost And Running rolled off I had to just punch him through it and hit the front way too soon, but the run presented and I had to get him mobile.
“One of this horse's greatest attributes is if something is down in his sights he really surges towards it. He had nothing in front of him from the 300m.
“I'm pretty certain my horse will be cherry ripe in two weeks' time.”
Think About It is the +300 favourite in The Everest futures market with online betting sites.