CHAMPION So You Think has become a symbol of Australian sporting pride with his magnificent Eclipse Stakes win and it's hit a raw nerve with some British racing fans.

So You Think's effort to overwhelm last year's Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce in the Eclipse Stakes (2000m) on Sunday has ignited spirited debate about his true standing in world racing.

British thoroughbred newspaper Racing Post has begun an online poll asking readers who they would select if So You Think and Workforce were to clash again over 2400m and 57 per cent of respondents believed Workforce would turn the tables.

But perhaps patriotic fervour could be used as an excuse for some of the not-so-flattering comments about So You Think in the Racing Post forum since the Eclipse Stakes.

"Everyone knows that So You Think is a good horse but let's be honest, he raced against probably the worst Derby/Arc winner I've ever seen, and just beat him over his optimum distance. He's not the wonder horse everyone proclaimed," one reader wrote.

"So You Think wins a 'match' race and Channel 4 and the majority of the British press are making out this was the greatest race ever and So You Think is the new Pegasus!" another commented. "British racing is doomed and everyone is turning a blind eye to it."

One blog entry demanded Australians "stop raving" about So You Think and declared: "Just look at the last three winners of the Cox Plate, which I have never heard of before, and all the winners were sired by Irish sires. Anything that has come out of OZ is of Irish descent!"

So You Think's winning margin of a half-length over Workforce also prompted this criticism: "Nice but wasn't he supposed to win by a dozen lengths."

So You Think has now won three of his four European starts and has been elevated to the top of betting for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on July 23 and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October, but many British race fans believe the horse is vulnerable over the 2400m of both races.

"So You Think has proved he is a good horse by beating Workforce, (but) he hasn't proved that he is a great horse with that performance. I couldn't back him if he went to the King George or the Arc," a fan wrote.

But there were readers prepared to acknowledge the former Bart Cummings-trained superstar's talents.

"So You Think (is a) real champ," wrote one Racing Post entry. "Would like to see him against Canford Cliffs and Frankel. I think he would thrash both of them - terrific acceleration."