So You Think to wear blinkers in Classic Aidan O'Brien will use blinkers on So You Think in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday as he feels the giant Australian import is getting too relaxed in his races. Winner of three Group Ones since moving to O'Brien's Ballydoyle stables, he has met with defeat in his last two races, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and the Champion Stakes at Ascot. But O'Brien believes he could run a huge race at Churchill Downs if he adapts to the dirt surface, in a race where he will be the only European challenger. "The reason he is wearing blinkers is because of the way he has run in his last three starts, especially when he won the Irish Champion Stakes when he appeared just to do enough at the end," said O'Brien. "We saw in Leopardstown that he was going to the front and waiting and he was just too relaxed. "He was drawn badly in the Arc and it was hard for Seamus (Heffernan) to keep him from getting too far back. Otherwise he might have been closer. "Then he ran a great race at Ascot, but the strange thing was when he got home he hadn't lost a single kilo. We think he is overdoing the relaxing bit now. "We put blinkers on him the other day and Joseph (O'Brien) rode him in a canter and he said the horse felt more attentive with them on. "If he handles the surface the blinkers might make a big difference at the end. "He worked on dirt in Australia when with Bart (Cummings) and is a big, strong, high-cruising horse who we think will be suited to the race." Many believed Saturday night would be So You Think's swansong before heading off to stud, but O'Brien revealed he's hopeful the horse will remain in training in 2012. "Hopefully he will (stay in training), the lads have suggested he might and we're only just really getting to know him and are still finding things out." The master of Ballydoyle runs both Await The Dawn and St Nicholas Abbey in the Turf and appears to be cautiously optimistic about this talented pair. He said: "Our dream for Await The Dawn was the Classic but after he was so ill after York we've decided to go for this race. It isn't such a severe test and hopefully he'll run well and we can build again. "We think St Nicholas Abbey is improving all the time. He missed his three-year-old season out so we hope it will continue." Middle Park hero Crusade represents O'Brien in the Juvenile on Saturday night, and the trainer believes he has similarities to Johannesburg - a brilliant winner of the race at Belmont in 2001. He said: "His profile is similar to Johannesburg in that's he dirt bred and has plenty of pace. I wouldn't be sure he'd stay a mile in Europe but we said the same about Johannesburg."
