In an increasingly competitive stallion marketplace, Coolmore’s So You Think (NZ) ticks just about every single box for breeders and buyers alike.
So You Think averages eight stakes winners every season in Australia.
So You Think is represented by stakes winners at distances of 1200 metres through to 3200 metres.
So You Think is one of the best value sires in Australia in regards to average yearling cost relative to average prizemoney earnt per starter.
Yearlings by So You Think average just over $145,000 at Australiasian yearling sales.
A world-class racehorse having claimed 10 Group 1s across two hemispheres, So You Think retired to stud in 2012 with the world at his feet. Standing his first season at a healthy fee of $66,000 (inc GST), the good-looking son of High Chaparral (Ire) was relatively slow off the mark with just one of his 17 first-crop runners managing to win a race. That trend quickly changed when he posted three second-crop stakes winners to finish runner-up in the second-season sire premiership behind Foxwedge. A break-through season in 2017/18 siring seven stakes winners had him all but firmly confirmed as a future star of the Australian stallion ranks.
| 15/16 | 17 | 0 |
| 16/17 | 87 | 3 |
| 17/18 | 169 | 7 |
| 18/19 | 217 | 4 |
| 19/20 | 254 | 9 |
| 20/21 | 266 | 12 |
| 21/22 | 298 | 12 |
| 22/23 | 306 | 11 |
| 23/24 | 196 | 2 |
Table: So You Think's (NZ) Australian stakes winners per season
The sire of 11 Australian Group 1 winners from 1200 metres to 3200 metres, So You Think is as versalite in the breeding barn as he was on the racetrack. While he made a slow start with his juvenile crop, So You Think was quick to redeem himself with three second-crop stakes winners which included the Group 1-winning duo La Diosa (NZ) and Inference. Fast-forward to 2023 and So You Think has solidified his status as one of Australia’s leading sires with 52 Australiasian stakes winners to his name at a winning strike rate of over seven per cent. Averaging eight stakes winners per season for the duration of his stud career, So You Think can produce elite talent at every end of the spectrum. Represented by a winner of The Everest, a G1 Sydney Cup winner and multiple juvenile stakes winners, So You Think is regarded as one of Australia’s most versatile sources of elite talent.
So You Think (NZ) sired this year's The Everest winner Think About It (pictured) | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
After siring 11 Australian stakes winners last season, So You Think was crowned runner-up in the domestic leading sire standings for the second time in a row. With the spring carnival done and dusted for another season, So You Think sired two stakes winners which included the $20 Million The Everest winner and G2 Premiere S. victor Think About It along with the progressive Banana Queen who earned maiden stakes success in the G3 Tibbie S. at Newcastle.
| I Am Invincinble | 9% | $384,457 | $147,435 |
| So You Think | 7% | $146,346 | $135,928 |
| Savabeel | 10% | $200,842 | $104,375 |
| Snitzel | 10% | $310,596 | $144,151 |
| Zoustar | 7% | $271,175 | $118,885 |
| Dundeel | 5% | $149,655 | $94,354 |
| Written Tycoon | 5% | $136,226 | $106,526 |
| Pride Of Dubai | 5% | $83,056 | $104,607 |
| Deep Field | 4% | $161,673 | $79,120 |
| Street Boss | 4% | $77,693 | $108,984 |
Table: Australia's leading sires' stakes winners to runners, yearling average and earnings per runner
While So You Think boasts some of the best credentials in terms of stakes winners to runners and average earnings per runner, buyers will be pleasantly surprised to learn that his yearlings won’t necessarily break the bank. Based on last season’s Leading Australia General Sires standings, So You Think averages $135,000 in prizemoney per starter. While this is largely influenced by rich invitational and pop-up races, the standings are relative, and he sits third only behind the reigning Champion Sire in I Am Invincible and four-time Champion Sire in Snitzel. It is worth noting that while So You Think may average slightly less in prizemoney per starter, his yearlings are a fraction of the price of his nearest rivals. Maintaining a lifetime yearling sales average of just over $145,000, So You Think’s progeny are sourced for well over half the price of his previously mentioned stallion rivals.
| 2024 | $220,000 |
| 2023 | $180,103 |
| 2022 | $150,813 |
| 2021 | $153,166 |
| 2020 | $171,267 |
| 2019 | $114,866 |
| 2018 | $93,804 |
| 2017 | $123,785 |
| 2016 | $108,693 |
| 2015 | $146,962 |
Table: So You Think's (NZ) average yearling cost per year
Maintaining an average of a shade over $145,000 for his first crop of yearlings, demand for So You Think’s next three crops of yearlings fell slightly. Represented by a pair of Group 1 winners in Sopressa and D’Argento in 2018 gave the Coolmore sire a much-needed boost leading into the 2019 breeding season which resulted in a 30 per cent increase in average spend for one of his yearlings. While he boasts significantly more affordable yearlings than his rivals, it is worth noting that the yearling prices of So You Think have continued an upwards tick since 2022 and this trend is almost certainly set to continue. Off the back of an incredible spring combined with an ultra-consistent record of producing quality racehorses, So You Think is all but certain to gain increased support yet again at next year’s yearling sale series.
