Eureka Stud Bred Sprinters to Boom Interstate
27-01-2012
SPIRIT OF BOOM, the 4-year-old stallion who has taken out two successive majors at the Gold Coast in fine style this month, the $100,000 Goldmarket on January 2 and then the $400,000 R.M. Magic Millions Cup on January 14 , is a half-brother by the Lyndhurst stud sire Sequalo to Temple of Boom, winner 12 months earlier of the $200,000 Magic Millions Sprint.
The prize money mentioned for all the Magic Millions races includes a distribution to every runner. Both Spirit of Boom, now winner of six of 23 starts, one of the others being the Ken Russell at the Gold Coast, and Temple of Boom, a 5-year-old gelding by the shuttled top notch England sprinter Piccolo who has run 25 times to date for nine wins and $863,995, appear quite capable of flying the flag for Queensland breeding interstate.
Temple of Boom, in fact, has already established himself as a leading sprinter in Melbourne. Last spring saw him contest four stakes at Flemington for wins in the Aurie’s Star-Gr.3 and Gilgai Stakes-Gr.2, a head second in the Salinger-Gr.2 and a 1.4 lengths sixth of 18 in the Bobbie Lewis-Gr.3. They are interstate performances that Spirit of Boom, going on his efforts this month, could equal or rise above if presented with the opportunity. So far he has run twice outside Queensland, appearing in Sydney as an early 3-year-old and in one of them finishing fourth in the San Domenico-Gr.3. Like Temple of Boom, he appears to have got stronger with age.
The success of Spirit of Boom and Temple of Boom underlines what a tragedy it has been for their breeders and part owners, Colin McAlpine and his son Scott of Eureka stud, Cambooya, that they lost their dam Temple Spirit at the age of ten shortly after she produced a filly foal to their now up and coming Red Ransom sire Red Dazzler. Fortunately, the foal survived and is now a yet to be tested 2-year-old named Just the Spirit and she is one of two fillies the McAlpines have available to transmit the goodness of Temple Spirit. The other, Just The Spirit, is a 3-year-old who has showed little in her three tries, but who has a trial win at Doomben to her credit. Like Spirit of Boom and Temple of Boom, the first two foals from Temple Spirit, Gentle Spirit is with Tony Gollan, a young Toowoomba trainer who appears to be heading for even more prestige with the horses than he achieved as one of the regions rugby league stars.
Breeding on Eureka for more than sixty years, the McAlpines bred and raced the first two dams, Temple Spirit, a good Brisbane sprinter by the Danehill sire Special Dane and the best of the eight winners from Temple Top, herself a winner twice in Brisbane at two. She was by Eureka’s most outstanding sire, Semipalatinsk (USA), and from Temple Black, an unraced Without Fear mare bred by Robert Sangster. Spirit of Boom is inbred 3x5 to Thatch, a high class English 3yo miler who was a brother by Forli (Hyperion male line) to Special, grandam of the Sangster bred and raced brothers Sadler’s Wells and Fairy King. Thatch is the third sire of Sequalo and of Republican Gal, the fourth dam on the bottom line.
Courtesy of Brian Russell Bloodstock Media Service
