Did we witness the second coming of So You Think on Saturday at Randwick?
Following Hitotsu’s win in the Group 1 ATC Derby, Cam Luke has likened the star colt to Bart Cummings’ former champion.
The career of So You Think started at Rosehill when he scored over 1400m and it didn’t take long to realise the son of High Chaparral was a Group 1 horse in waiting.
In fact, he won his first Group 1 in just his fifth start which was the 2009 Cox Plate.
In Hitotsu’s sixth start, he claimed the Group 1 Victoria Derby over 2500m, his third career win following his Donald maiden over 1350m in September 2021.
The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained three-year-old has achieved all before him since that maiden triumph, winning both the Victorian and ATC Derbies along with the Australian Guineas in as many as seven starts. An impressive CV.
Maher and Eustace have trained some star gallopers in their time as trainers, but Luke believes Hitotsu will be “by far” the best they’ve had in their care.
“In 2025, we will say Hitotsu is by far the best horse these two gentlemen have ever trained,” he said on SEN Track.
“He is the second coming of So You Think, he’s a competitive beast and he’s an incredibly good looking horse.
“We sit here and marvel at what they’ve been able to do. From a Donald maiden to a Caulfield Guineas (running fifth) to a Victoria Derby, and it bolts in.
“They know what they’ve got, they’ve got one of the most special horses you can have under your traineeship.
“They’ve got the best horse they may ever train and they’re going to win everything in the next 30 years.
“The horse is a freak and I’m excited.”
This training partnership is scary good, it seems every Saturday they’re winning a feature race and in five years’ time, Cam is predicting them to be the “greatest” training duo we’ve seen in this country.
“Jameka, Merchant Navy, Sir Dragonet, Marabi - still young but got a lot of work to do - some of the great horses that the Maher and Eustace stable have had,” he added.
“We’ve got some nice horses and in five years’ time they’re going to be the greatest training partnership we’ve ever seen in this country. They’re freaks.”
Since the ATC Derby was switched to the autumn, only Dulcify and Mahogany had won the Victoria Derby before claiming the Sydney equivalent.
The So You Think comparison also relates to the possibility of a Japan Cup foray for Hitotsu with Maher indicating that as a potential goal.
After a savagely successful career in Australia, So You Think was eventually sold and trained by Aidan O’Brien, winning a further four Group 1s in the UK (two of which were under Cummings).
