BOOM TIME!
Eureka Stud set to offer its biggest Magic Millions Gold Coast draft including a dozen by flag-bearing stallion
Queensland is the centre of the thoroughbred universe for the next two weeks as almost 1,400 lots go under the hammer at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, starting on Tuesday.
So it’s fitting – particularly with their flag-bearing stallion Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) enjoying what could be his finest season – that Darling Downs powerhouse Eureka Stud presents what they feel is not only its biggest, but also its best, draft at the auction yet.
A total of 37 lots will be offered by the Cambooya farm, headed by 23 in Book 1. And after a rare season heavy on males, 16 of the 23 are colts.
Eureka’s Harry McAlpine said the draft reflected an upswing in quality of mares associated with the farm in recent years, during a period for the stud which – thanks to their aptly-named main stallion – could be referred to as its boom time.
“We’ve got an outstanding draft this year,” McAlpine told ANZ Bloodstock News. “Our clients have been buying better mares over the past several years, and I think that shows in the pedigrees of what we’ve got.
“We’ve got the tried and true ones who have been good producers for us and some exciting new mares as well.
“And this year, what we’re probably most excited about, is we’ve had a great year for colts. A lot of our good mares had colts this time, and we’ve got a lot of good colts who match their pedigrees.
“This year’s is much bigger than our previous drafts. We’ve got a good bit of variety including a couple of Too Darn Hots, a Snitzel colt, and a couple of Bivouacs. We’ve got a good selection of stallions there, and obviously the usual strong representation from Spirit Of Boom.
“I think we’ve got a few of the stallions right that we’ve punted on, and the best representation of Spirit Of Booms we’ve ever had, so we’re pretty excited.”
Spirit Of Boom is enjoying one of his more promising seasons in 2024-25, among the many which have brought such laurels as four straight Queensland champion stallion titles from 2019-2022.
The 17-year-old is currently the leading two-year-old sire in Australia this season, by earnings and by his six winners, one more than Arrowfield titan Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and three ahead of third-placed Blue Point (Shamardal).
His juveniles have won seven races, two more than Snitzel’s, and they include three set to contest the rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) next weekend in filly Formula Rossa and colt Luva Flutta – both sold by Eureka at this auction last year – plus the filly La Bella Boom.
“It’s very exciting to see that Spirit Of Boom’s two-year-olds are flying at the moment,” McAlpine said. “To have three in the Magic Millions race is a great sign.”
Spirit Of Boom, the dual Group 1-winning sprinter who’s just covered his 11th book at Eureka, at $38,500, is also flying high on the general sires’ table, sitting fourth by winners with 88, behind leader Zoustar’s (Northern Meteor) on 107, and just two off third-placed Toronado (High Chaparral).
Among Spirit Of Boom’s 12 Eureka yearlings is Lot 810, out of the Listed winner Pure Purrfection (General Nediym). The colt is a brother to the sire’s first crop four-time stakes winner Outback Barbie – now the dam of promising two-year-old Listed winner Hi Barbie (I Am Invincible) – and another Listed winner in Barbie’s Sister.
Reflecting the trend at Eureka this year, this is Pure Purrfection’s first colt, after six previous fillies.
“We’d been hoping for a colt out of this mare for a while now,” McAlpine said. “He’s a good type. He’s got more scope than the mare’s fillies have had. He’s very powerful and purpose-built.”
Pure Purrfection’s daughter Frosty Mango (Hinchinbrook) has her first foal among the Spirit Of Boom dozen as Lot 423, another colt who’s of course closely related to Hi Barbie.
“He’s a very good first foal,” McAlpine said. “Nice and sharp. He’ll improve a heap, but he’s very typical of what the Spirit Of Booms are like out of that family.”
Another Spirit Of Boom in the draft is the fourth foal of city winner Assertory (Not A Single Doubt) in Lot 176. He’s a brother to Extractor, a colt sold by Eureka 12 months ago who ran third on debut in Rosehill’s $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) for Michael Freedman and managing owners Gandharvi.
“Extractor is a very promising horse who’s on a Golden Slipper path, and this colt is pretty much a dead-set replica of him,” McAlpine said. “Big and strong and a beautiful mover.”
Eureka’s Spirit Of Booms also include Lot 635, a brother out of Blue Diamond Preview (Listed, 1000m) winner Malasun (Red Ransom) to the stakes-winning Malaboom, and Lot 491, a filly second foal out of dual city winner winner Hussterical (Beneteau).
A half-brother to Formula Rossa, and to Listed winner Hypothetical (Pride Of Dubai), is one of the highlights of the non-Spirit Of Boom portion of the Eureka draft. Lot 401 is from the keenly awaited first southern crop of Darley shuttler Pinatubo (Shamardal), and is the first colt after a run of four fillies for Fitna (Fastnet Rock), a half-sister to the dam of Group 1- winning sire The Mission (Choisir).
“Pinatubo was a superstar two-year-old who’s sired a stack of winners in Europe,” McAlpine said. “This boy is a big, strong, forward colt, so he’ll be pretty popular, I’d expect.”
Eureka’s draft also features two lots borne out of good timing with another Darley stallion who’s become too successful to keep shuttling, Too Darn Hot (Dubawi).
They’re headed by Lot 32, who’s the fourth live foal and – once again – the first colt out of Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) heroine Tinto (Red Dazzler), whose two runners so far are the Listed-placed Teranga (Sebring) and Colours (I Am Invincible), who won on debut but was retired one start later.
“We’re pretty excited to be presenting this colt,” McAlpine said. “He’s really just a typical Too Darn Hot, in that he’s got all his sire’s quality about him.”
Eureka’s other Too Darn Hot is a muscular-looking filly out of the city-winning High Above (High Chaparral), who’s had four winners from five runners.
The farm also offers a second colt out of a top-level winner in Lot 800, who’s by Snitzel out of Princess Jenni (High Chaparral), winner of the SAJC Schweppes Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m). The colt was bred by Tony Ottobre, owner of the battalion of ‘Jenni’ horses, including the outstanding Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai).
“He’s a sharp first foal,” McAlpine said. “The mare’s by High Chaparral, so there’s a mix of him in there which is good to have, since he’s a great broodmare sire. It’s hard to find any weakness in the page.”
McAlpine said Eureka was also excited by its two yearlings from the second crop of Darley’s Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) in Lot 34 – a filly out of Listed winner Tiyatrolani (Captain Sonador) – and Lot 118, a colt from Zoom By (Red Dazzler) with a plethora of black capitals on his page.
“We didn’t see Bivouac when he first went to stud, so we didn’t quite know what to breed to him,” McAlpine said. “But then we saw him before we sent mares in his second season, and we think we’ve nailed him this time on type. These two have still probably thrown a bit to the mares, but the mares are good looking, so that’s fine.”
A pair by Coolmore’s debutant sire Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) is also included in Eureka’s Book 1 selection: Lot 734, a colt out of Listed winner Notonyourlife (Sebring); and Lot 833, a filly from Perth Listed winner Rebel Assault (Excelebration) whose only runner has been Siren Assault (Rich Enuff), winner of the WATC Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).
“The filly’s powerful and sharp and the colt’s got more scope to grow, but both possess a lot of quality,” McAlpine said.
Eureka also offers Lot 722, a filly first foal by I Am Invincible out of Niedorp (Not A Single Doubt), a Listed winner of six races who was stakes-placed four times, and what McAlpine said is an “exceptional” son of first-season Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) in Lot 216, the second foal of city winner Bleu Zebra (I Am Invincible).
While Eureka is glowing over its draft, the current economic climate has led McAlpine to believe the sale’s average and median prices “will both be slightly reduced” from last year’s figures of $279,000 and $200,000 respectively (Book 1).
“You’d have to say middle to top will be strong, but anything with a blemish or an excuse is going to be very difficult, I’d have thought,” he said.
“I think with economic circumstances being what they are, the market is more likely to come back a bit than go up. I’d say the average and the median will both be slightly down.”