It was a fantastic weekend for Proven Thoroughbreds on a number of fronts but THINK ABOUT IT’s emphatic victory in the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Randwick was the clear highlight.
The Joe Pride-trained 4YO defied another steep class rise to record his sixth win from just seven outings. His four-start winning sequence this preparation has seen him skyrocket from a midweek BM72 event to Saturday’s Group 3 success, suggesting there is no telling where his ceiling is.
“When he won that midweek race at Warwick Farm, I knew we had a pretty special horse and he’s just raised the bar. He doesn’t exceed expectations, but he does what good horses do, and that’s win,” said jockey Sam Clipperton, who has been aboard in all four of the gelding’s starts this campaign.
“He’s just added another string to his bow today in his versatility in leading a race. I had no plans to go out there and lead, but he just jumped and found himself in a lovely rhythm.
“I thought I’ve got a light weight, rock-hard fit horse and we’ll find out how good he is today… and he’s pretty bloody good.”
Think About It continues the picket-fence!
He picks up the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup. @PrideRacing pic.twitter.com/JeZfAdR4T7
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) February 25, 2023
Pride was equally upbeat about the son of SO YOU THINK.
“That was pretty breathtaking. Just for a young horse still learning his trade, don’t get it wrong he’s four years old, but he’s a baby,” said Pride.
“What we are going to see from him in 12 months, six months maybe? Really special.
“Horses just don’t do what he’s done in the last four starts.
“What I saw today, if that isn’t a Group 1 horse in the making, I haven’t seen one.”
One potential Group 1 target on the horizon for THINK ABOUT IT is Brisbane’s Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) which has had a whopping prizemoney increase from $1.5 million to $3 million.
In last year’s Stradbroke, Proven Thoroughbreds and the Pride stable went within a length of winning with PRIVATE EYE, who was held up for a run in the early part of the straight as the 57kg topweight.
THINK ABOUT IT is likely to be somewhere near the limit weight in the 2023 edition of Queensland’s flagship race should he make the trip to Eagle Farm in June.
At this very early stage, the plan is to tackle the Stradbroke third-up from a break so the son of SO YOU THINK will spend the next couple of weeks spelling at Thenford Farm in the southern highlands before returning to the Pride stables at Warwick Farm.
Randwick also featured the Group 2 Proven Thoroughbreds Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) which was fittingly won by Proven trainer Kerry Parker and his gun mare HOPE IN YOUR HEART.
Meanwhile at Doomben’s Saturday meeting, a horde of FETCH’s owners were on course to see Kyle Wilson-Taylor pilot the mare to her fifth career victory in the 1050m Class 6 Plate.
The Steve O’Dea & Matt Hoysted-trained galloper was the entrée to the stable’s first ever Group 1 as UNCOMMON JAMES prevailed in a thrilling Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Sandown.
It was also a maiden Group 1 win for jockey Ben Thompson, who relocated from Melbourne to Brisbane in 2020.
UNCOMMON JAMES SALUTES IN THE OAKLEIGH PLATE!
FIRST GROUP 1 BEN THOMPSON & O’DEA/HOYSTED! 👏@ODeaHoysted @BenThompson2102 pic.twitter.com/w2sdV0UJVF
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) February 25, 2023
Then less than 24 hours later at the Sunshine Coast, the stable-jockey combination reunited to produce an excellent debut win with Proven galloper SHOT OF WHISKEY.
A $150,000 SPIRIT OF BOOM yearling from the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, SHOT OF WHISKEY started a $1.90 favourite in the 1000m 2YO maiden and justified his short odds with a dominant 3.3 length win.
Being QTIS eligible, SHOT OF WHISKEY is a chance of running in the $500,000 QTIS Jewel at Doomben on March 18.
Proven’s trio of winners over the weekend elevated our seasonal tally to 26 winners for prizemoney in excess of $6.5 million.