Even rival owners will be cheering on Dato Tan Chin Nam's superstar at Royal Ascot next week, writes Andrew Wu.

SO You Think's foray into Europe isn't just about So You Think. And it isn't just about by how much he will street rivals down the Royal Ascot stretch. It's about Australasia's equine reputation and the legacy of owner Dato Tan Chin Nam.

So You Think will hold court with the Queen at Royal Ascot when he takes on some of the world's finest thoroughbreds in the Prince of Wales' Stakes on Wednesday.

The anticipation in Britain has been immense. Royal Ascot officials have detected significantly more interest among the large contingent of expatriate Australians in England and have sold ''thousands'' of tickets to the Royal Enclosure. Many more are likely to turn up on the day to the less exclusive areas.

''I know I haven't seen anything like this before from an Australian perspective,'' says Ascot's head of communications, Nick Smith.

''Everybody here knows So You Think is the best horse to have come to Royal Ascot outside of Europe.''

Hardened punters know there is no certainty in racing but the question with So You Think this week seems not to be if he will win but by how far. Former trainer Bart Cummings does not think he will find worthy opposition until the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France.

At stake, however, will not be whether So You Think can claim the lion's share of the $621,000 Prince of Wales Stakes prizemoney to help recoup the rumoured $60 million Coolmore Stud paid for a 70 per cent share of the horse, but what he can do for racing in Australia and New Zealand, where he was bred. That So You Think can be what Duncan Ramage describes as a ''walking billboard'' for this region's racing industry is the silver lining to losing a national treasure.

Ramage, who helped orchestrate the deal that had So You Think leave Cummings's stables for the Irish breeding giant's Ballydoyle property, says the dual Cox Plate winner's achievements in Europe this winter will be Dato Tan's legacy to Australian racing.

''It might attract people to want to come down and buy our yearlings and those that are bred here,'' Ramage says. ''Any canvassing of business or trade on a world stage is positive, doesn't matter what business you're in.

''By circumstance, he's over there and long-term, the benefits are going to be far more positive than the negatives were perceived to be.''

Although So You Think belongs to a rival breeder, Arrowfield Stud boss John Messara wants the entire to triumph. The heroic feats of Choisir, Takeover Target, Haradasun, Miss Andretti and Starspangledbanner to win major races during Royal Ascot's famous carnivals in the 2000s helped establish Australia's reputation for producing the world's best sprinters.

Success for So You Think on Wednesday and in prestigious races such as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - both run over the classic distance of 2400 metres - later this year would dwarf previous Australian wins overseas. ''It's like a tap dripping on a stone. All of these victories by Australian horses are making these people in the northern hemisphere stand up and watch,'' Messara says. ''As time goes on they'll treat us as equals. Believe me, they didn't used to. Till recently, it's been mainly sprint horses that have won the major races over there. The cumulative impact for sprinters and now the classic distance horses against the best quality adds enormous prestige to the Australian thoroughbred.''

Even after two cakewalks against what has been regarded as moderate opposition, the Irish are already fans. Trainer Aidan O'Brien has described So You Think as ''very special''.

"There's a chance that we've never seen anything like this horse before, so we're just so grateful and privileged to have him,'' he said last month.

Seamus Heffernan, the jockey who steered So You Think to a 10-length blitz on his European debut six weeks ago, rates the four-year-old (rated as a five-year-old in Europe) as among the best he has ridden.

High praise given Heffernan has been associated with greats such as So You Think's sire High Chaparral, Galileo, Dylan Thomas and Rock Of Gibraltar - who between them have won a host of famous races such as the Epsom Derby, Breeders' Cup and the Arc. ''He's right up there with them and he could be better than them, who knows?'' Heffernan says.

''His father was very genuine. This fella's probably a stronger build. He's a very imposing horse. When he's in the lot or in the barn straight away he draws your eye because of his presence. He's got proper conformation, he's just the real deal.

''Anyone who looks at horses and understands them knows where the muscles are. His muscles are popping out and he's big, and he's got a good coat and a good manner. He's just a real pleasing look to the eye.''

The boss of Coolmore's Australian arm, Michael Kirwan, paid tribute to Cummings for the ''excellent job'' he had done in preparing So You Think.

''Jeepers, he couldn't have done a better job,'' Kirwan says. ''That's the thing about these great trainers, they know the ability of a horse and trained the horse to that ability.''

Cummings was typically droll when told of the high praise his work had received. ''I'm glad someone thinks that, it's good news,'' Cummings says.

''We never do [overtax]. Patience is the main ingredient in training.''

Another admirer of the horse is John Oxx, the man who two years ago trained the horse who many in Europe regard as the greatest ever, Sea The Stars, to win a string of major races before his retirement to stud. ''Racing needs all the stars it can get, they're welcome at any time,'' Oxx says.

O'Brien has an ambitious program in mind for So You Think that could have him race until November, but Oxx says the horse has the constitution for it.

And he is well placed to judge having trained Sea The Stars to win six group 1 races in as many months, including the Epsom Derby and the Arc, from distances ranging from 1600m to 2400m during a phenomenal three-year-old season.

''He's a mature horse, he's not a three-year-old, so that will make a difference to him,'' Oxx says.

With a Timeform rating of 135, Sea The Stars is clearly superior to So You Think (126), which sits behind only Black Caviar and Frankel (both 130) in today's rankings. But handicapper Greg Carpenter, the man who allots the weights for the Melbourne Cup, says So You Think could finish the year as the ''highest-rated performer in the world''.

''Sea The Stars was the highest-rated horse in more than a decade, it will really take some phenomenal performances for So You Think to be challenging the rating that Sea The Stars achieved,'' Carpenter says. ''But I wouldn't say that it's totally implausible that he might get to those heights.''

The likelihood of So You Think chasing a record-equalling third Cox Plate is unlikely but Coolmore have not yet ruled out an Australian swansong.

''He's proved everything he has to in Australia [but] there's always a possibility he might end up racing in Australia, I can't tell you that for sure,'' Kirwan says. ''There is always a possibility he could come back here for a third Cox Plate but that's in the lap of the gods.''

So too is the prospect of Cummings, who turns 84 in November, finding another So You Think.

''A horse like him only comes every couple of decades,'' he says. ''I mightn't have the patience to wait that long again.''