Matings Mix: Eureka to get Don Corleone off to a good start

Cover image courtesy of Eureka Stud

It’s an exciting time for the McAlpine family’s Eureka Stud, as the renowned Cambooya-based operation welcomed a new stallion to its line-up this season: Don Corleone.

The Thoroughbred Report spoke with Eureka Stud’s nominations and bloodstock manager, Harry McAlpine, about their latest addition and the mares set to visit him this spring. “We welcomed Don Corleone this spring at a fee of $13,200 (inc GST),” McAlpine shared.

“It’s our intention to support him with mares that suit him, and we’re currently planning to send around 30 of our own mares to Don Corleone in his first season to ensure he gets off to a strong start.”

Don Corleone is a son of Newgate Farm’s Extreme Choice, who stands for a fee of $275,000 (inc GST) this season. He is from the Group 3-placed 2-year-old Snipzu (Snippetson), who is also the dam of the Group 1-placed The Drinks Cart (Unencumbered).

The son of Extreme Choice was a $650,000 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale purchase by the China Horse Club Colt Syndicate and Newgate Bloodstock. Don Corleone won as a 2-year-old, and was placed in the G1 Blue Diamond S. and the G1 Sires’ Produce S., he was also fourth in the G1 Golden Slipper.

As a 3-year-old, Don Corelone added placings in the G2 Danehill S. and the Listed Gothic S. to his CV.

Good mix of Extreme and Doubt

There is no shortage of daughters by Eureka Stud’s current flagship stallion, Spirit Of Boom, and McAlpine shared that several will be heading Don Corleone’s way, believing they will suit the son of Extreme Choice both physically and genetically.

“When you stand stallions, you inevitably accumulate a population of mares by your previous stallions. So it’s crucial to find a stallion that’s going to suit your current broodmare population.

“We really thought he’d match well with Spirit Of Boom mares. Spirit Of Boom has a great affinity with Not A Single Doubt mares (Don Corleone’s grandsire), and he’s actually inbred to Rough Shod. Don Corleone carries a strain of that line through his fast mother, Snipzu, who’s a daughter of Snippetson.

“So, on pedigree, we felt he’d certainly suit Spirit Of Boom mares, and physically as well.”

Commenting on Don Corleone’s physical attributes, McAlpine said, “He’s a very good-looking horse, very sharp, a real 2-year-old. He’s probably more in the mould of Not A Single Doubt in terms of markings.

“But he’s a good mix of Extreme Choice and Not A Single Doubt physically. So, hopefully, he produces foals that reflect his looks, and we’ll be off to a strong start.”

Sourcing mares for Don Corleone

Discussing the approach to sourcing mares for Eureka Stud’s new acquisition, McAlpine explained, “When it comes to sourcing mares for Don Corleone, we’ve gone out and tried to find some that are by stallions with which Extreme Choice has worked well.

“However, Extreme Choice is such a freak of a stallion that he doesn’t really seem to have a dominant nick; he appears to work well with anything. We found a stakes-performed mare by O’Reilly named Campari.

“Obviously, Espiona is from a daughter of O’Reilly, so alongside sires that have worked with his sire, we’re going to give Don Corleone a sample size of everything and hopefully give him every chance to click with as many mares as possible.”

Campari (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) won three races and was placed in the Listed Soliloquy S. and the Listed Counties Bowl. She also finished fourth in the Listed Levin S.

McAlpine also acquired the Street Boss (USA) mare Too Bossy (USA). “We’ve got a nice Street Boss mare, who was a fast winner at Santa Anita in America. She’s a descendant of Helen Street, which has worked well with the Redoute’s Choice line.

“So he’s got a good cross-section, and we’re banking on him working with Spirit Of Boom.”

Too Bossy is a daughter of the Eskendereya (USA) mare All Too Many (USA), who is the dam of the multiple Listed-placed filly Cover Charge (USA) (Take Charge Indy {USA}). She also comes from the family of the G2 Australia S. and Group 1-placed stallion Thronum, as well as his Listed-winning half-sister Cythera (I Am Invincible).

“Too Bossy is from a great family and is a tremendous physical specimen. She’s a mare we could have bred to any stallion; she’s good enough for that. But we wanted to give Don Corleone the chance, and you’ve got to send in those nice, fast, young mares to start a stallion off right.”

Don Corleone will also serve the proven producer Ana’s Mail (Anabaa {USA}), who is the dam of She’s Ideel (Dundeel {NZ}). She’s Ideel won six races, including the G3 Kingston Town S., and was placed in the G1 Tancred S., G1 Chipping Norton S., G1 Winx S., she also was fourth in the G1 Sydney Cup.

Additionally, Ana’s Mail is the dam of the Group 1-placed Elusive Treasure (Northern Meteor), a four-time winner.

Boom girls

As mentioned earlier, Eureka Stud will be supporting Don Corleone with a number of mares by Spirit Of Boom. McAlpine shared a few heading his way, “Rumpus, a half-sister to Extremist, will be served by him.

“Unfortunately, Rumpus didn’t race due to an injury, but she’s a lovely mare. Her half-sister Extremist made $625,000 at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale and is a stakes winner.”

Malaboom (Spirit Of Boom), a victress of the Listed Calaway Gal S. will visit Don Corleone in her maiden season at stud. She is a daughter of the Red Ransom (USA) mare Malasun, who won the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies) and is also the dam of the Group 3-placed Hard To Say (Exceed And Excel).

Although not by Spirit Of Boom, Frosty Mango (Hinchinbrook) is a half-sister to one of the stallion’s leading lights, Outback Barbie.

“Frosty Mango is from Pure Purrfection, who is the dam of Outback Barbie. She’s by Hinchinbrook and isn’t a stakes winner but is a nice, well-related mare.”

McAlpine added, “We’ve got a great population of mares that are going to suit him down to the ground. He’s also been well-received by outside breeders and some really nice shareholders who have come into him.

“Several have gone out and bought mares specifically to be involved with him. We’ve also got some great, usual supporters of Spirit Of Boom who are using him as well. Don Corleone will cover a full book.

“But that’ll just be dictated by how he handles his covering; we don’t want to flatten him at the start, but if he handles it well, then we can increase his numbers later on.”

Spirit Of Boom: A proven source

Spirit Of Boom is standing the 2024 season at $38,500 (inc GST) and is the sire of 27 individual stakes winners, including the Group 1 winner Jonker.

The proven stallion is set to serve another quality book of mares. “We will support him heavily this year; we will probably send 30 mares to Spirit Of Boom.

“He’s such a tremendous proven stallion. I don’t think there are any other stallions in the market that have achieved as much for the same fee. We’d be mad to buy too many outside services when we’ve got such a great stallion at home.

“Spirit Of Boom has covered really good books of mares in the last two years. Because there aren’t any other proven stallions at his fee, he’s covered a lot of good interstate mares recently.

“He really is a standout at that price. We believe he can make a significant impact on the track in the next few seasons. We feel it’s a very strategic year to be supporting him heavily.”

Table: Mating schedule for some of Eureka Stud's high profile mares