Ante-post / Jamie Lynch / 29 June 2011 /

Jamie Lynch gives his views of the big clash between So You Think and Workforce at Sandown on Saturday...

We're so spoilt this star-studded Flat season that, compared to what's to come, the big match-up between Workforce and So You Think seems like Ola Afolabi versus Terry Dunstan. No, I'd never heard of them either until I looked it up, but London-born Afolabi slugging it out with 42-year-old Dunstan is the undercard to the Haye-Klitschko rumble, though that particular rumble is closer to call than the true sporting heavyweight clash of the year at Goodwood in four weeks, when Frankel will do to Canford what Pacquiao did to Hatton.

In the Timeform weigh-in, there's not a single pound between Workforce and So You Think, their rating exactly the same, but achieved in very different ways. Workforce needs no Michael Buffer-style introduction, as we know all about him in these parts, the powerful and spirited British Bulldog who showed the French a thing or two by capturing their Arc, whereas So You Think is Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man, the sexy Aussie with an Irish accent, only slightly less sexy after his bubble was burst at Royal Ascot.

When they're so evenly matched on ability, external factors count for double; principally trip, ground and tactics. Your guess is as good as mine regards tactics, but there's a good sub-plot here with both prizefighters having cornermen in the guise of pacemakers, only both want different things, and you can bet that while Jan Vermeer's rider will be keen not to repeat the Royal Ascot mistake by going too fast, he may not have much chance or choice given Confront's duty is to ensure that the race tests stamina more than speed in order to play to Workforce's strengths.

However, the trip and ground are two factors beyond influence, betting without God or Andrew Cooper, and the trip and ground are what tip the scales in the favour of So You Think. He may not be a better horse than Workforce, but all the evidence suggests that he's a faster horse, and a mile and a quarter on good or firmer ground makes it very much a home tie for So You Think.

Longchamp in October is the territory of Workforce, while the Breeders' Cup Turf would be as close as we get to middle ground and a neutral venue, but prevailing conditions this Saturday are tailor-made for So You Think, and if he doesn't beat Workforce here he never will. There'll be the odd contrary pundit who'll say 'it's not just a two-horse race,' but it is. Yes, a peak-form Snow Fairy would give them a race, with the fillies' allowance, but it's extremely doubtful we'll see a peak-form Snow Fairy after the setbacks that have delayed her comeback time and again.

Spare a thought for Ryan Moore, the regular rider of Workforce, Snow Fairy and, more recently, So You Think. Nobody knows better than him who's going to win the Eclipse. Of course, being contracted to Stoute and Workforce, he'd never say, but put him in a room with Derren Brown for five minutes and we might find out what he really thinks, and I think even he thinks So You Think.

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Back So You Think for the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday

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