Tuesday, 9 January 2018: Boom by name and nature is the evolving story of Queensland’s latest stud sensation Spirit Of Boom.

A cheap Magic Millions sale product, Spirit Of Boom has made a remarkable start to his breeding life after a highly successful racing career that saw him win five stakes races including the G1 Doomben Ten Thousand and G1 William Reid Stakes.
The son of Sequalo has sired an unprecedented seven individual winners of nine races from just 19 runners, including three stakes winners, to be Australia’s leading first season sire by both winners and earnings.

Spirit Of Boom

Every buyer at this week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale will be looking at the select dozen Spirit Of Boom yearlings in the catalogue, more so if one of his brilliant colts Ef Troop  or Jonker  lands Saturday’s $2 million Magic Millions Classic.
He also has the filly Outback Barbie  in the field, a record number of qualifiers for a first season sire.
Spirit Of Boom  has eight lots catalogued in the Adelaide Magic Millions Yearling Sale in March and a further 42 lots for the Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale, a catalogue resolved before the rush of success he has enjoyed with his first crop runners since the start of summer.
Spirit Of Boom is the sire set to boost the stocks of the Queensland breeding industry. He is standing at Eureka Stud, the famous Cambooya property founded by the McAlpine family.
Scott McAlpine is Eureka’s third generation stud master, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and founder Andrew and father Colin, who was renowned as one of the Australia’s leading breeders, owners and administrators.
Since its foundation as a thoroughbred stud in 1946 Eureka Stud has stood numerous leading sires such as Semipalatinsk, Brave Warrior, Piccolo and Red Dazzler, all former champion Queensland first crop sires.
However none made such an immediate impact as Spirit of Boom. For example in the last 10 years only two stallions have taken Australia’s first season premiership honours with eight individual winners – Spirit Of Boom already has seven and we are not even half way through the season.
Spirit Of Boom, a Eureka Stud product, covered more than 180 mares on a fee of only $11,000 last spring. That fee may treble by the time McAlpine gets around to announcing his 2018 service fee.
He had previously covered books of 154, 147 and 146 mares in his first three seasons. His first yearlings offered at the 2017 sales made prices up to $210,000 with 63 sold for an average price of $41,000, a figure expected to be significantly higher this year.
“The great aspect about him is he’s got the numbers running and winning,” McAlpine said. “You’ve got remember that this is one wave and there is another one coming. Hopefully the momentum will keep going.”

"He's a dead set flying machine Ef Troop."
Ef Troop makes it two from two in his career with a commanding win at Doomben. Bring on the @mmsnippets! pic.twitter.com/SKPS2pikGx

— Sky Racing December 16, 2017

Ef Troop wins at Doomben

The McAlpines bred Spirit of Boom’s dam Temple Spirit, by Special Dane, and her dam Temple Top, a Semipalatinsk daughter of Temple Black (Without Fear) from the Irish mare Republican Gal (Thatch).
Spirit Of Boom is one of only four foals produced by Temple Spirit, raced by the McAlpines after she failed to make her reserve at the 2002 Magic Millions Gold Coast sale, but what an influence she has been as she is also the dam of another G1 winner Temple Of Boom (Piccolo).
Eureka Stud stayed in the ownership of Spirit Of Boom after he was purchased for $90,000 by trainer Tony Gollan at the Magic Millions Premier Yearling Sale in 2009.
He retired with nine wins from 52 starts for Gollan and prize money of $2,430,900.
“He is the fourth generation bred by us from the same family so we know the family very well,” said McAlpine.
“We like to buy a particular line, stick with it and breed up to our own stallions that we own.”
Eureka Stud sold both Ef Troop and Outback Barbie to Gollan and his clients at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Ef Troop was purchased by John Foote Bloodstock and Gollan for $70,000 while Outback Barbie was the most expensive of the Spirit Of Booms when purchased by Alan and Jennifer Acton for $210,000.
Jonker, a colt bred on Wicklow Lodge in southern Queensland, realised $45,000 when submitted by Fig Tree Thoroughbreds.
Purchased by clients of Newcastle trainer David Atkins, Jonker is from Hearts and Arrows, a daughter of the Danehill sire Kempinsky.

Jonker

Significantly Ef Troop and Jonker are inbred 4x3 to Danehill.
This week’s Magic Millions sale features a brother to Ef Troop out of the stakes-placed mare Limealicious (Exceed And Excel) and a half-sister to Outback Barbie by Pierro.
Ef Troop, bred by Simon Adams of Golden Gully spelling farm at Cooran, is the second winner and third foal to race from Limealicious, a half-sister to the stakes-placed Haradasun mare Sanosuke.
Ef Troop’s third dam is the G2 winner Topicount (Private Account) who produced nine foals to race for eight winners including the Listed winners Winning Season (Lemon Drop Kid) and Laguna Seca (Seattle Slew).

Lot 977 @mmsnippets @SpiritofBoom colt out of Limealicious. Full brother to Ef Troop #herecomestheboom pic.twitter.com/a4sImsv81y

— Karen Dunemann (@KDunemann) December 29, 2017

Outback Barbie is the first foal out of the Listed winner Pure Purrfection, a half-sister to Listed winner Global Warming (Agnes World).
Her second dam She’s Purring (Flying Spur) was a dual Listed winner and her third dam Ringside Lady (Clay Hero), was also successful at stakes level.
The influence of Sequalo in the Spirit Of Boom success story should not be discounted.
Sequalo, by Rustic Amber and free of Northern Dancer blood, was one of the toughest and best sprinters of his time.
He raced 40 times over five seasons and won 10 races with 13 placings. His victories included the G2 Linlithgow Stakes, G2 Chirnside Stakes and G2 AJ Moir Stakles at Moonee Valley in track record time for the 1000m.
He was also G1 placed in the VRC Newmarket, Lightning Stakes and Manikato Stakes.
Sequalo went to stud in Queensland standing at Lyndhurst Stud at Warwick in 1987 where he remained for 18 seasons until his death in 2014, supplying 1201 named foals.
He is credited with 707 winners (20 SW) of over 2500 races from 1033 starters earning $46.4 million.
Spirit Of Boom’s only in-breeding in five generations is a 4x5 of Thatch. On the bottom line he goes back to Rhetoric, a sister to the 1905 English Derby winner Cicero.
Valais, a son of Cicero, was champion Australian sire for five successive years in the 1920s and one of his sons Heroic ruled as champion Australian sire for seven years in the 1930s.