Think Big (1970 – 23 February 1995) was a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

who raced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, winning the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

in both 1974 and 1975.

Background

Bred by the estate of the late L. A. Alexander, Think Big was purchased by Australian trainer

Bart Cummings James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he w ...

for

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n businessman,

Dato Tan Chin Nam Dato' Tan Chin Nam (; 18 March 1926 – 21 October 2018) was a Malaysian entrepreneur and developer. His family is the majority shareholder of IGB Corporation Berhad. Tan was reportedly one of the richest men in Malaysia and had several compan ...

for $10,000 at the Trentham yearling sales in New Zealand. Initially co-owned by

and Queensland property developer Rick O'Sullivan, the two owners later included Malaysia's first Prime Minister ('the Father of Malaysia')

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...

in Think Big's interests. He was conditioned for racing by Cummings, who maintained a share in the horse,

Racing career

Think Big started eight times at age two, earning just one win. As a three-year-old he had fifteen starts for five wins. His third to

Igloo An igloo (Inuit languages: , Inuktitut syllabics (plural: )), also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. Although igloos are often associated with all Inuit, they were traditionally used only b ...

in the

Brisbane Cup The Brisbane Cup is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 ...

was an indication of better things to come. The popular

trained mare Leilani was the favourite for the 1974 Melbourne Cup but she was run down in the last fifty metres by her stablemate Think Big under jockey Harry White. The win gave Cummings his fourth Melbourne Cup win and his third quinella of the race. Following his second last in the lead up

MacKinnon Stakes The VRC Champions Stakes, registered as the ''LKS Mackinnon Stakes'', is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia on ...

, Think Big started at 33–1 in the 1975 Melbourne Cup, assigned high-weight of 58 kg. He had not won a race since his victory the previous year. But at his favourite course and distance, again under jockey Harry White, he fought off a challenge from stablemate Holiday Waggon to record his second win.

Retirement

A gelding, after his racing career was over Think Big lived out his days at jockey Harry White's 200-hectare farm in Gisborne near

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

where he died, on 23 February 1995, and is buried. In his autobiography ''Bart: My Life'' Cummings recounts the story of Think Big being named by co-owner Rick O'Sullivan's wife Joan at a dinner between the O'Sullivans and Dato Tan Chin Nam in Melbourne. When the subject of the possibility of winning the Melbourne Cup was raised, Joan O'Sullivan said to her husband "You are always thinking big."''Bart: My Life'' by J.B. Cummings, Pan Australia, 2009, p150-151.
Retrieved 21 December 2014

References

;General * ;Specific {{reflist

External links

Think Big's pedigree and partial racing stats

''Thoroughbred News'' article on Think Big stud

1970 racehorse births 1995 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in Australia Melbourne Cup winners Thoroughbred family 5-d Godolphin Arabian sire line

Background

Racing career

Retirement

See also

References

External links