If I said to you the name Richard Hickey, only a handful of people would know whom I’m talking about. The racing world has already described with sesquipedalian words the dominance of So You Think. I’m not here to tell you how good he is because we already know. The story I wish to tell is that of his ‘strapper’.
Hickey’s year was very much a two-sided affair. During the Autumn Hickey would saddle up Bart Cummings’s country runners. In the spring the base would be Melbourne to look after the main attractions. Having gained previous experience on the big stage with Viewed it wasn’t really a surprise that he was entrusted with a son of High Chapparal out of the Kiwi mare Triassic who goes by the name So You Think. It was already apparent from trials and early gallops that this racehorse was something special. Hickey’s favourite memory of the whole experience was when he won his first start over 1400m, “it was unbelievable because we didn’t expect it, he was only about 80% and it was a decent race but he won well. We knew we had a superstar on our hands.”
His gut feel wasn’t misled. After a smooth transition through the ranks a crack at the Cox Plate as a 3yo was next on the agenda. According to his strapper So You Think’s win surprised a few people. “He won his first Cox Plate with a breathing problem, he was still very immature so for him to win as he did was mind blowing. It was unexpected in many ways.” It was a sign that the best was yet to come. A breathing operation that Autumn was carried out successfully and eyes turned to the future.
What followed will be remembered forever. Victories in the Underwood Stakes, Yalumba Stakes, another Cox Plate, rounded off with a Mackinnon win, all Group 1’s were followed by a 3rd in the Melbourne Cup. Australia had a middle distance thoroughbred worthy of the world stage. We look at him on the track and make our own logical assessments of his brilliance. Hickey saw things first hand. “We had 10 G1 winners at Bart’s and none of them could live with him on the gallops. On Monday mornings he would be climbing up the walls, he was just an absolute professional, he wanted to get to the track do his work and get home.” When you work as intimately as strappers do with their equine companions it is no surprise a rapport forms. “I could do things around him that others wouldn’t be able to do. We had a great bond. You wouldn’t go near him once he was fed. He would eat his feed in half an hour. He wouldn’t waste any extra energy. As a stallion he was very manageable, he wouldn’t get horny, he was just an absolute pro.”
Race day with So You Think brought about its own set of challenges. Firstly, keeping him settled and ready for action, a fine balance between relaxation and readiness. The walk to the track from Bart Cummings yard was 3km, a short period for Richard and So You Think to enjoy their friendship before the lenses zoomed in. “He was very quiet on the way to the races but as soon as the saddle went on he would be a totally different animal, he just knew what to do. The only time I got nervous was before his second Cox Plate win. He was 1-2 and everyone was telling me he would win, I didn’t quite know how to handle the fact that he was a certainty.” By now, So You Think had a public following wherever he went, Hickey remembers fondly moments on the track that only he and his buddy saw. “Before the Mackinnon it was chucking it down, there were hundreds of people outside his box in the rain just to get a glimpse of him. One lady had travelled miles to see him, she was dressed up in his colours and had waited outside his box since 5am. He had an aura about him.”
Now So You Think has a new home. Stabled at Ballydoyle in Ireland under the care of Aidan O’Brien, a case of like father, like son. So You Think’s sire High Chapparal was one of Coolmore’s leading thoroughbreds in the early 2000’s and is now (obviously) considered a leading stallion for the bloodstock operation. Hickey surprisingly found out about the sale at home watching the news. Personally, I would have completely understood had Hickey turned round and conveyed bitterness, anger and hurt that he was not informed under better circumstance. “Yes it was poorly handled, it was bad form, but i’m not angry about it, that’s racing. It wasn’t just me that was affected by it, everyone felt some form of attachment to him.” A relatively philosophical assessment to what was no doubt a heart-breaking realization. “Before the Melbourne Cup I was walking to the races and I was telling everyone to take his photo but I thought they may see him again, I would have loved everyone to have given him the send off he deserved.”
Many people within the Australian racing industry couldn’t quite understand why So You Think had been sold. Had he stayed in Australia he may very well have become an equal with the legendary Kingston Town by winning three Cox Plates. The man closest to the horse saw things in a positive light. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to the horse. I think its good for Australian racing, for New Zealand breeding. European stayers are better; it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase the Australian industry to Europe and the world. A lot of people have been blowing up about him leaving but that has been too clouded by self-interest, missing out on the money or whatever it may be.” So You Think is without question a global horse. Bred in New Zealand by a European sire, trained in Australia and Ireland, part-owned by a Malaysian and ridden last start by an Englishman there is a sense of achieving world domination about his career.
Is there an underlying sense of jealousy that someone else is experiencing life with his buddy? “I watch with pride, it’s nice to know you’ve played a small part in the puzzle. In my eyes it is all about what is best for the horse and I am immensely proud of him. I have the odd photo or video to look back on, that’s all I need.” A photo captures a moment in time but for Hickey it grabs hold so many wonderful memories. “When blokes 80 years old who have been racing every Saturday there whole life come up to me and say he’s the best they have ever seen, it really touches you. I will never forget that feeling.”
Richard Hickey is now taking a break from racing to raise a family. Recently becoming a father the early starts and long hours where put into perspective. A job as a contractor is the new vocation but a return to racing is hopefully around the corner with a goal to become a racing manager one day. “I love horses and to me it is all about the horses.”
There may very well never be a horse quite like So You Think, certainly in Richard’s eyes there won’t be. As he puts it, he was just a “champion.”
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