So You Think pre-entered in Classic

So You Think was originally trained by the legendary Bart Cummings in

Australia, where he was hailed as the greatest horse in a generation. A

five-time Group 1 winner from only 12 starts Down Under, he stamped himself as

something special by capturing consecutive runnings of the Group 1 Cox Plate in

2009-10. His Australian career concluded last November with a commendable third

in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup over two miles.

Immediately following the Melbourne Cup, the news broke that Coolmore had

purchased a majority interest in So You Think. Transferred to O'Brien for a

European campaign, he crushed overmatched foes in the Group 3 Mooresbridge

Stakes and the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. So You Think entered the Group 1

Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot as a raging favorite, only to be worn

down late by the ill-fated Rewilding.

O'Brien took the blame for the narrow loss, believing that he undertrained So

You Think and left him less than fully cranked -- a view that Cummings publicly

expressed himself. Wheeling back about 2 1/2 weeks later in the Group 1 Eclipse

Stakes, So You Think indeed improved to beat Workforce.

So You Think returned from a two-month freshening to defeat the world-class

filly Snow Fairy in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, notching his eighth

victory at the sport's elite level. He stepped up in trip to 1 1/2 miles for the

Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but was given too much to do when restrained

far off the pace, and did well to rally for fourth.

Back at his typical 1 1/4 miles last time in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at

Ascot, So You Think suffered another upset at the historic Berkshire grounds,

this time at the hands of the French gelding Cirrus des Aigles. Yet So You Think

forced the winner to break the course record to beat him after a tussle.

So You Think will test dirt for the first time in the Classic. So could his

stablemate Await the Dawn, whose sire Giant's Causeway failed by a neck to

Tiznow at Churchill in 2000.

O'Brien had tabbed Await the Dawn as a Classic candidate much earlier in the

season. The lightly-raced four-year-old impressed in his 4 1/2-length romp in

the Group 3 Huxley Stakes in his 2011 debut at Chester, a tight left-handed

circuit, and justified odds-on favoritism in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at

Royal Ascot. Await the Dawn's winning streak was snapped next time out in the

Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes on August 17. A reason for his poor third

soon came to light: he was seriously ill and hospitalized. That appeared to put

his Breeders' Cup bid in jeopardy, but he is back in the frame now.

Await the Dawn has another option in the Turf, which is the only race of

choice for St Nicholas Abbey. Although he has not fulfilled the hopes of his

champion juvenile season of 2009, St Nicholas Abbey has made amends this

campaign. Both of his 2011 wins have come going left-handed -- in the Group 3

Ormonde Stakes at Chester and in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom, defeating

Midday. St Nicholas Abbey comes off a creditable fifth in the Arc.

Mile pre-entrant Zoffany, a Group 1 winner last year at two, seeks to rebound

off a too-bad-to-be-true last in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. His previous

form included a runner-up effort to unbeaten phenom Frankel in the Group 1 St

James's Palace Stakes and a near-miss in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat.

Classy two-year-old Daddy Long Legs was a front-running winner of the Group 2

Royal Lodge Stakes going a mile in his latest. As a son of Scat Daddy, and out

of a Meadowlake mare, he has the pedigree to adapt to dirt in the Juvenile.

While Daddy Long Legs is keeping an option open for the Juvenile Turf,

Crusade is single-mindedly considering the Juvenile. The 25-1 upsetter of the

Group 1 Middle Park Stakes also has a dirt profile -- by Mr. Greeley and out of

Grade 3 Victory Ride heroine La Traviata.

Pre-entered in the Juvenile Turf along with Daddy Long Legs are Wrote, third

in the Royal Lodge, and Learn, fourth as the pacemaker in last Saturday's Group

1 Racing Post Trophy.

Marathon contender Harrison's Cave has won two of his past three, including a

maiden and a handicap.

Filly & Mare pre-entrant Misty for Me brings a strong resume. The highweight

juvenile filly of 2010 in both France and Ireland, she has garnered this

season's Group 1 Irish One Thousand Guineas over Together and the Group 1 Pretty

Polly Stakes, thrashing Midday by six lengths. Misty for Me has not raced since

her lackluster third as the favorite in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at

Leopardstown on September 3.

The busy two-year-old filly Homecoming Queen, a three-quarter sister to

multiple European champion Dylan Thomas, just scored her first stakes win in her

10th start, while the twice-raced Up recently broke her maiden on the Polytrack

at Dundalk.