El pensador
The Thinker won the Peter Marsh Limited Handicap Chase at Haydock Park in January 1988 against West Tip. In the 1988/9 season, The Thinker won a minor race at Kelso Racecourse and then took the listed Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock Park, taking the lead at the second last and winning easily by twelve lengths from Kissane. He then finished third under top weight of 164 pounds in the Welsh National and fell at the tenth fence in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. On 8 April, The Thinker again carried 164 pounds when top weight for the 1989 Grand National. Ridden by Simon Sherwood, he lost his position on the second circuit but stayed on strongly in the closing stages and finished third of the forty runners behind Little Polveir and West Tip. On his only other appearance of the season The Thinker was pulled up in the Whitbread Gold Cup.