High Chaparral is poised to charge up the Australian sires’ ladder despite having nowhere near as many runners as the other front-runners for the title.

High Chaparral catapulted into the Top 10 after his standout performer So You Think won the $400,000 Turnbull Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.  

The Coolmore shuttler has been represented by a mere 21 starters for 7 winners of $1.04 million since August 1.  That total could skyrocket in the coming weeks with his first-crop stars So You Think and Shoot Out both in contention for the Cox Plate – Melbourne Cup double.

His Flemington based Group 1 winner Monaco Consul could also have an impact if he returns to the form that saw him win the G1 AJC Spring Champion Stakes and VRC Victoria Derby last year.

Trainer Mike Moroney is pressing ahead with plans to run Monaco Consul in the Caulfield Cup and expects him to improve dramatically if given galloping room in a capacity field this Saturday.

And Gai Waterhouse has G2 Hill Stakes winner Descarado primed to perform in the Caulfield Cup.  He split Shoot Out and Monaco Consul when High Chaparral sired the Group 1 AJC Australian Derby trifecta at Randwick in April.

More Than Ready currently holds the lead on the sires’ premiership after his outstanding mare More Joyous won the $350,000 Toorak Hcp on Saturday.  The Vinery resident has been represented by 110 starters for 25 winners of $1.50 million.

Commands (144 starters – 35 winners), Encosta de Lago (164 – 42), Redoute’s Choice (135 – 35) and Show a Heart (87 – 24) fill out the Top 5 on the ladder and they are all within $150K of the leader.

So You Think confirmed his rating as Australia’s premier galloper with a sensational victory in the Yalumba Stakes on Saturday.  He defeated Alcopop by more than three lengths with last year’s Yalumba winner Whobegotyou a well-beaten third.

“He’s just a magnificent horse,” jockey Steven Arnold said.  “He’s beautiful, he’s first class and a pleasure to ride.”

So You Think  (4h High Chaparral – Triassic by Tights) was a $110,000 buy from the Windsor Park draft at the 2008 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale.  His dam Triassic was a G2 winner of the Sir Tristram Classic in NZ.

He became the sixth Yalumba winner for Bart Cummings following Gay Poss (1970), Lloyd Boy (1978), Hyperno (1980), Sky Chase (1988) and Shaftesbury Avenue (1991).

Bart is recuperating from a fractured pelvis but will move heaven and earth to watch So You Think defend his Cox Plate crown.

So You Think has firmed into a $1.75 favourite for the Cox Plate and Arnold is confident without getting too cocky.  “Sure, they can all get beat but he led and won it last year.  He’s an on-pace, weight-for-age horse and that’s what’s required at Moonee Valley.”