Europe: So You Think retired after injury

So You Think was to have started heavily favored Saturday in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park in England, but he was reported lame Thursday, and word of his impending absence from the Eclipse soon gave way to a report of So You Think’s retirement. So You Think will immediately go into quarantine and soon be shipped to Australia to stand the 2012 breeding season there, announced his connections, trainer Aidan O’Brien and an ownership group headed by the Coolmore operation.

So You Think seemed destined for a trip to stud at some point this summer regardless of his health, and a pulled muscle to his hindquarters – So You Think’s reported injury – merely expedited the process. The New Zealand-bred son of High Chaparral was a star in Australia, where he made his first 14 starts, before coming to O’Brien two winters ago to continue his campaign in Europe. So You Think won five Group 1 races following his export, and his connections did not shy from ambitious spots. He failed, however, to make a major impact in his most prominent international starts, finishing fourth in the Prix de l’Arc d’Triomphe, sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and fourth in the Dubai World Cup. For his entire career, he compiled a record of 14-4-1 from 23 starts.

Monterosso returns in Eclipse

The 1 1/4-mile Eclipse drew 10 horses at Thursday’s final entry stage, but prime contender Nathaniel is no sure thing to start. His trainer, John Gosden, has expressed concern over course conditions and the possibility of a taxing race just two weeks before Nathaniel’s major immediate goal, the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a race Nathaniel won last year, beating the likes of Workforce and St Nicholas Abbey. Nathaniel has not started since finishing fifth behind Cirrus des Aigles in the Champion Stakes at Ascot last Oct. 15.

Godolphin has three entrants for the Eclipse, including Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso, who makes his first start since winning that $10 million race. Monterosso has never won a turf race, however, of anything close to the prominence of the World Cup, which is contested over Tapeta, and Godolphin’s more interesting entrant might well be Farhh, who ran on decently for third behind So You Think on June 20 in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Cityscape, one of two Juddmonte Farms horses in the race along with Twice Over, won the Dubai Duty Free this past spring before running poorly in the Champions Mile in Hong Kong.

Cirrus des Aigles tests positive

Cirrus des Aigles, the best middle-distance horse in Europe last year, tested positive for an unidentified anti-inflammatory drug after finishing second in the Prix d’Ispahan on May 27. The 6-year-old gelding’s trainer, Corine Barande-Barbe, denies any wrongdoing and has filed a complaint with France Galop, France’s administrative body in racing matters.