¾ Brother to So You Think at Karaka 2012

New Zealand Bloodstock's 2012 Karaka Premier Sale is set to offer a three-quarter brother in blood to one of the world's most talented thoroughbreds, the New Zealand bred eight-time Group 1 winning Karaka graduate So You Think (NZ).

To be offered by Windsor Park Stud who sold So You Think (High Chaparral x Triassic) at Karaka in 2008, the colt is by High Chaparral from La Souvenir, a daughter of Triassic, the dam of So You Think. The colt is set for sale on the second day of the Karaka Premier Sale at Lot 284.

Windsor Park Stud's Co-Owner and Stud Manager Rodney Schick is very pleased with the horse and is thrilled to have the colt in the Stud's Karaka 2012 draft.

"He is a fantastic type, he's a beast," commented Schick. "He is a good sized horse and is a very strong and well put together colt. He ticks all the boxes on type and is hard to fault so we expect him to be very popular come sale time."

So You Think has been the centre of media attention since his first Cox Plate victory in 2009. His rapid rise to stardom has seen the five-year-old become one of New Zealand's most successful thoroughbreds on the international stage since the late Sunline (NZ) (Desert Sun), the winner of 13 Group 1 races including two Cox Plates.

So You Think (NZ) races away to take his first Cox Plate title at three in 2009

Purchased by Duncan Ramage's DGR Thoroughbred Services from Windsor Park Stud at New Zealand Bloodstock's 2011 Karaka Premier Sale for $110,000, So You Think has gone on to amass over NZ$9.6 million in stakes.

An outstanding winner of the Cox Plate in 2009 at three for master trainer Bart Cummings, So You Think became the only horse in Australian racing history to win the great race at both three and four when claiming his second victory last season.

His purchase by Coolmore Stud saw the entire taken to Coolmore's home in Ireland and transferred to trainer Aidan O'Brien who trains at the famous Ballydoyle stables.

The move was an instant success with So You Think making his Irish debut in the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes (2100m) where he won by 10 lengths, with his next start seeing him take the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup (2110m) in a canter.

His following two starts in England saw him narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes (2000m) by the ill-fated Rewilding (Tiger Hill) before he bounced back to win the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes (2000m).

In a fierce battle, So You Think and jockey Seamie Heffernan fought hard down the long Sandown Park straight, wearing down the 2010 English Derby and Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce (King's Best) in the final strides to win by a half-a-length.

A historic win, So You Think became the first horse from this part of the world to win a Group 1 race in England at a distance greater than a mile. Only Balmerino (NZ) (Trictrac) came close to achieving that feat in 1978 when he ran second in the Group 1 Coronation Cup (2400m) and Eclipse Stakes (2000m).

So You Think's next start saw him put in a determined performance to hold off Snowfairy (Intikhab) in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes (2000m). The victory saw his name added to the illustrious winners list which includes Giant's Causeway, his sire High Chaparral, Azamour, Dylan Thomas, New Approach and the incomparable champion Sea the Stars.

So You Think's three-quarter brother in blood who will be offered at Karaka 2012 by Windsor Park Stud

With tough performances in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, after drawing wide, and the Group 1 Breeders' Cup Classic, his first start on dirt, So You Think is to be kept in training for the coming season and he continues to dominate headlines throughout Australasia, Ireland, England and Europe.

High Chaparral has the largest draft in New Zealand Bloodstock's 2012 Karaka Premier Sale with 61 yearlings (35 colts and 26 fillies). The sire of seven Group 1 winners, four from his first New Zealand crop, the son of Sadler's Wells has sired 32 stakes winners (19 colts and 13 fillies) and boasts a winners to runners ratio of over 72% in Australia.

High Chaparral began his Southern Hemisphere stud career at Windsor Park Stud in 2005 and the 2012 Karaka Yearling Sales will see the last of his New Zealand conceived yearlings offered at auction, with Windsor Park Stud set to offer 20 yearlings by the gun sire.

"We are very impressed with High Chaparral's yearlings," commented Schick.

"We have a number of standouts by High Chaparral in our draft including the filly from Akela (Lot 36) who's a half-sister to Lady Kipling (Savabeel) who won last Saturday's Group 2 Cal Isuzu Stakes, she is a very nice filly."

High Chaparral's entries in the 2012 Karaka Premier Sale include:

• Lot 71, the colt from the dual Group 1 winning Zabeel mare Bazelle. The High Chaparral/Zabeel cross has proven successful producing the Group 2 winner Hidden Asset and Group 3 placed Utopia from only seven runners.
• Lot 282, the filly from the triple Group 1 winning Encosta de Lago mare Lashed from the family of Group 1 winners Shogun Lodge (Grande Lodge) and Referral (Dr Grace).
• Lot 325, the half-brother to the dual Group 1 winning mare Gee I Jane (Jahafil) and Group 3 winner Miss Jessie Jay (Spectacularphantom), the dam of the Group 1 winners Katie Lee (Pins) and Banchee (Oratorio).

To view High Chaparral's draft in the Karaka Premier Sale, click here.

Catalogues for New Zealand Bloodstock's 2012 Karaka Yearling Sales (30 January - 5 February) are now available and can be viewed online at www.nzb.co.nz.