Cover image courtesy of Eureka Stud

Frequently featured on the leading breeders' tables, Eureka Stud is a proven nursery of elite thoroughbred talent.

Breeders or part-breeders of 37 stakes events since the commencement of the 2013/14 racing season, the Darling Downs-based nursery has played a significant role in the Australian breeding industry for over 75 years. The breeders of nine Group 1 winners including dual Group 1 winners Pippie (Written Tycoon), the ill-fated Show A Heart and very own leading Queensland sire Spirit Of Boom, the Eureka Stud brand features on the shoulders of black-type winners year in, year out.

The McAlpine family’s nursery has enjoyed a particularly good start to the season with its homebreds recording four stakes wins across just four months. The unbeaten Spirit Of Boom filly Keshi Boom handed Eureka Stud its first victory of the season when victorious in the Listed Burgess Queen S. at Ascot on Melbourne Cup Day. Just four days later the seasoned 5-year-old mare Extremist (Extreme Choice) claimed a maiden stakes victory in the Listed Keith Noud Quality H. before Keshi Boom backed up in the G3 Champion Fillies S. to provide Eureka Stud with a third stakes victory in the space of just a fortnight. Just last weekend, 2-year-old filly Barbie’s Sister (Spirit Of Boom) was a runaway winner of the Listed Calaway Gal S. for her trainer Tony Gollan.

Table: Eureka Stud's stakes winners by sire

It's no surprise that homebred and resident stallion Spirit Of Boom is the most represented sire of Eureka Stud’s stakes winners. The McAlpine family’s prized possesion represents over 50 per cent of the farm’s stakes winners for the period having sired 10 individual stakes winners including the million-dollar earner and dual Group 2 winner Prince Of Boom. Of the 10 stallions represented, six are Queensland-based sires with half of those either currently or formerly based at the Darling Downs farm themselves. Of the other farms represented, fellow Queensland-based nursery Lyndhurst Farm is home to G1 BTC Cup winner Apache Chase’s sire Better Than Ready and was the home to former champion Queensland stallion and sire of Eureka’s own dual Group 1-winning sire Spirit Of Boom.

With over 60 per cent of its stakes-winning graduates sired by Queensland-based sires, it comes as no surprise that the majority of its stakes winners occurred locally. Over 67 per cent of its stakes winners occurred in Queensland while Victoria accounted for 25 per cent. Keshi Boom’s dual stakes victories this season provided the Queensland nursery with its only Western Australian represented stakes winner in at least 10 years. Elite sprinting mare Pippie accounted for three of the nine Victorian stakes races won by Eureka Stud-bred stock. A daughter of Written Tycoon who was formerly based at Victoria’s Woodside Park, all but one of Pippie’s 15 career starts occurred in the southern state.

Eagle Farm-based trainers Tony Gollan and Robert Heathcote are responsible for over 42 per cent of Eureka Stud stakes-winning graduates since 2013. Of the interstate trainers, Victorian conditioner Ben Hayes has been associated with two Eureka Stud stakes-winning graduates including Listed Debutant S. winner Champagne Boom (Spirit Of Boom) when training in partnership with David and Tom Dabernig, while most recently he prepared American Pharoah (USA) colt Tijuana to dual stakes success last season with brother JD Hayes.

Of the stakes races won, over 45 per cent occurred in Listed company while the five Group 1 victories accounted for just over 13 per cent of all stakes wins for the period. Eureka Stud graduates have won two editions each of the Listed Calaway Girl S. for 2-year-old fillies with Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom) claiming the early season feature in 2017 while her aptly named full-relation Barbie’s Sister took out this year’s edition. Other stakes events won more than once by Eureka Stud graduates include the G3 Vo Rogue Plate with Apache Chase and Boomsara (Spirit Of Boom) and the Listed Keith Noud Quality with Extremist and Outback Barbie.

The Queensland-based nursery is well-known for producing fast and precocious horses which is further testified by the fact that all 37 stakes victories occurred over distances of a mile or less and almost 80 per cent at distances of 1200 metres or less. Of the 37 stakes wins, eight occurred in juvenile events across Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

Table: Eureka Stud's stakes winner per crop

The farm’s ability to produce stakes winners year after year is impressive with at least one stakes winner hailing from each of its last seven foals crops. The 2015 foal crop was by far the farm’s most successful to date with five stakes winners hailing from the Darling Downs-based nursery. Dual Group 1-winning sprinter Pippie was the flagship horse while the Eureka Stud part-owned $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas winner Boomsara was also a member of the 2015 foal crop. With its stock regularly featuring in the Magic Millions carnival and its key lead-up events, Eureka Stud has an exciting couple of months ahead.

With the farm’s four-time Queensland Champion Sire entering the prime of his career it seems only inevitable that the Eureka Stud brand will be spotted on the winners of some of our best races for many seasons to come.