Cover image courtesy of Michael McInally

Three of the Spirit Of Boom breed lined up in Saturday’s Bundamba Plate, a QTIS event for the 2-year-olds. On paper it looked as though the Tony Gollan-trained Honey Pot would have the upperhand on the back of her fast-finishing Listed Bill Carter S. third two weeks previously - that run eye-catching enough to see her supported as an odds-on favourite.

The Kevin Kemp-trained gelding Spooky Spirit meanwhile had bolted in with his maiden at Toowoomba, at just his second start, saluting by an impressive 7.25l.

Hattusa was also a last-start winner, too strong when recording a maiden win at the Gold Coast for the Helen Page stable. While that performance was promising, she was up in class on Saturday - hence her generous starting quote of 40-1.

A little slowly away but suited by a good pace set up by a tearaway leader, Hattusa was patiently steered by Tiffani Brooker - who had her ready to pounce from the 100 metres - and that she did, too good for the favourite with Spooky Spirit gamely boxing on late for third.

There was 0.75l between first and third, all the progeny of Spirit Of Boom. It is an achievement when a stallion provides a quinella which happens now and again but a trifecta is considerably rarer - the most famous ones in recent times in Australia coming in a couple of Group 1 races.

The 2018 Coolmore Stud S. which saw an all Zoustar finish with Sunlight, Zousain and Lean Mean Machine filling the placings and the 2010 AJC Derby for High Chaparral (Ire) with Shoot Out, Descarado (NZ) and Monaco Consul (NZ) and the 1999 G1 Caulfield Cup which was a triumph for Zabeel (NZ) with Sky Heights (NZ) defeating Laebeel (NZ) and Inaflury (NZ).

“We think Spirit Of Boom may have actually had a trifecta early days,” Eureka Stud’s Harry McAlpine said. “But on a Saturday feature raceday - definitely a first and a great effort.

“It was obviously not the winner most were expecting, but Helen Page has always had a good opinion of Hattusa, who was an expensive yearling, and obviously a good sort. And both Honey Pot and Spooky Spirit were great runs - it will be interesting to see if any of them back up in the Listed race (the Tattersall’s Life Members S.) at Eagle Farm next weekend.”

A Newhaven Park $280,000 graduate of the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Hattusa did not surprise her trainer who described the promising bay as a bombproof, beautiful filly.

Hattusa (whose dam is a winning granddaughter of the Champion 2-Year-Old filly Hasna by Snippets) is part of a good recent run for Spirit Of Boom who McAlpine is hoping can enjoy an end of season rush to secure the title of leading sire of 2-year-olds by winners, that particular race he is currently in a neck and neck tussle with Lyndhurst Stud’s Better Than Ready a son of More Than Ready (USA).

“He has not had as many 2-year-old runners as many of his rivals but he just keeps getting the winners.”

Reminiscent of his sire Sequalo, the four-time Group-winning sprinter (widely recognised as one of the best of his era not to win a Group 1 race) who did such a fine job during his 18 years at Lyndhurst; so well-represented by 738 individual winners with an excellent 70.2 per cent winners-to-runners strike rate.

A higher-quality stallion than his sire (no disrespect to Sequalo!), Spirit Of Boom is also a horse whose progeny really know how to find the line, his current strike rate also hovering around the 70 per cent mark with 17 of his sons and daughters stakes winners including the recently retired G1 Manikato S. winner Jonker.

Continuing their consistent support of Spirit Of Boom (breeding 10 of his stakes winners) with around 25 of their own mares visiting him each season, and again in 2022, Eureka will also be picking out some nice mares for Jonker having secured a lifelong breeding right in that Aquis-based horse, who will stand the 2022 season for a fee of $16,500 (inc GST).

McAlpine is delighted with the quality of the mares Spirit Of Boom will serve this spring.

“He is at the level where he covers good books every year… a nice mixture of young, well-performed race mares and proven stakes producers,” he explained.

Such as those due to him this spring, Spirit Of Boom last year served a high-quality book consisting of the stakes winners Cassandra Shadow (NZ) (Johannesburg {USA}), Defiant Dame (More Than Ready {USA}), Express Air (Piccolo {GB}), Highflying (NZ) (Entrepreneur {GB}), Kulgrinda (Exceed And Excel), Karuta Queen (Not A Single Doubt), Madam Legend (I Am Invincible), Malasun (Red Ransom {USA}), Noesis (Exceed And Excel), Notonyourlife (Sebring), Quilate (Bramshaw), Steflara (Zabeel {NZ}), Rio Osa (Canny Lad), Renaissance (Lonhro), Tina Melina (Jet Spur) and Tiyatrolani (Captain Sonador).

As well as a number of mares who have already produced the Spirit Of Boom stakes winners Frangipani Moon, Perudo, Champagne Boom and Boomsara - and the dams of the of the Group 1 winners Pippie (Written Tycoon) and Microphone (Exceed And Excel) and the stakes winners Charleise (Foxwedge), Secret Saga (Real Saga), Ploverset (Street Boss {USA}), Petits Filous (Street Boss {USA}), Kiss A Rose (Sebring), Peacock (Lonhro), Charge (Zoustar) and Criminal Defence (Nicconi).

Describing the Spirit Of Boom breed as: “Tough horses who perform well at two and race on,” McAlpine is confident that the best is still to come, noting that his books have increased in quality each season.

“He is a proven, well-priced stallion who still has plenty of upside.”

Spirit Of Boom will stand the 2022 season at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST).

I have never been to Royal Ascot before, I have actually never been to England before so I didn’t know what to expect to be honest. But when I told everyone I was going, they just told me to ‘hold on to my hats’ and I’ve come to the end of the week and I still have all my hats, so I’m stoked about that.

It was quite a long week to wear heels, I feel like I want to amputate my feet with the amount of ground I covered, but it was so worth it, as they all say: Pain is beauty. It was the most ridiculously awesome week of racing I have ever had in my life and I can’t wait to come back already.

The dress code seems odd when you first hear about it, but actually that probably ended up being my favourite part of the event, because there is nothing like that anywhere else. It’s so cool watching people just walk around in top hats and tails like it’s normal and the women have to wear dresses that are below the knees and there is even a rule about the widths of the straps of your dresses.

Before going everyone told me to watch out because the dress code is ridiculously strict and it’s actually so cool to see people make such an effort. It was 100 per cent the most classy place I have ever been in my life. My favourite part was definitely the hats and the outfits - no matter how horrendous, classy or beautiful they were, you got a glimpse into the personality of the people wearing them.

The Goffs UK London Sale was also absurd - I have been to a lot of Sales in my life, but I have never been to one like that before. I didn’t know what I was in for, I was just told to put on some heels and a cute summer dress and I just expected to see some horses sell. Everyone was drinking Pimms in the sunshine and it was an amazing atmosphere. It was a great thing to do to get everyone in the mood for Ascot week and it really set the tone for the whole meeting.

For the week I was following around Gai Waterhouse doing her ‘Mic-ed Up’ series and going to Ascot with Gai was the most awesome experience ever. I had so much fun with her. She is the most awesome human to be around. We had such a fun time all week. Gai Waterhouse is not just an icon in Australia, she is an icon everywhere. You walk into a box with her and everybody just wants a picture with her - she is so admired and respected and everyone was just delighted to see her. She lights up a room and her energy is so infectious.

She’s also not only knowledgeable, but she is a pleasure to be around. She has taught me so much over the last week; from how tall a man’s top hat should be to what a horse’s coat should look like in the paddock. I was definitely in the right company for my first experience of Royal Ascot.

The track at Ascot is incredible. I can’t believe the rise! I have heard about it before but I have never really taken it into account, but Gai explained it to me properly and I can’t believe that there is literally a massive rise in the track - a hill pretty much and it’s just not something you get in New Zealand or Australia. It’s amazing how the horses can pull through and perform like they do.

For the week, we were staying in London and it was quite funny, because me and Hermione, who I was working alongside all week, would get ready for racing early in the morning and go to the train station in our hats and heels and the looks we were getting during rush hour from people in their suits and ties were very entertaining. We were getting some peculiar looks, that’s for sure.

In terms of racing, the standout for me was definitely Nature Strip. We were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to film the reaction of the connections of the horse during the race and obviously when he won it was amazing. There were so many emotions flying around and just to see how much a horse’s performance meant to so many people, well not even the performance, just the horse in general really, I have never seen anything like that before. It was ridiculous to be so close to them at that moment.

Then we got to go to the winner’s circle and film how it all went in there. I was probably about four metres away from Nature Strip, so that’s an experience I will never forget in my life. The crowds were going wild, everybody was screaming and the atmosphere was just electric and completely incomparable to anything I have experienced before. There is nothing that matches the crowd at Royal Ascot - it’s incredible.

As a Kiwi it was a proud moment because there was so much Kiwi connection to Nature Strip, with James McDonald, Chris Waller, Sophie Baker as well as Steve Hansen and his wife Tash were there, he is the ex-coach of the All Blacks, so that was quite cool for me. I felt so lucky to be able to experience all of that. It was also great because my brother George came for two days and he looked so funny in a top hat - he looked like The Monopoly Man! My dad was FaceTiming us every 10 minutes, it obviously would have been cool if he’d have been with us!

But my goal for 2023: Garry Chittick at Ascot in a top hat and tails.

Cover image courtesy of Michael McInally

There was no missing the beaming smile on the face of popular Queenslander Chris Munce at Ipswich, delighted to have taken out the Listed Ipswich Cup with Smart Meteor (Smart Missile) and not long after the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic with Centrefire (Shooting To Win).

“It was a very good day,” Munce told TDN AusNZ. “All the horses raced well.”

Debut stakes winners on the back of worthy form, Smart Meteor and Centrefire were purchased by Munce Racing, the former secured for $50,000 at the 2018 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and the latter earlier that year for $100,000 at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

“I had a history with Gooree (breeders of Smart Meteor) so I know that they breed good, tough horses,” Munce said. “While the filly (Centrefire) was just a smashing type as a yearling - and she has matured into a beautiful mare, she will make a lovely broodmare when she retires.”

Gallery: Chris Munce's stakes winners on Ipswich Cup Day, images courtesy of Michael McInally

Enjoying a great run having also cheered home the recent stakes winners Boomnova (the Listed Lightning H. winner by Spirit Of Boom) and Palaisipan (the Gooree-bred G2 Dane Ripper S. winner by So You Think {NZ}), Munce has well and truly settled into his second career within racing.

And we have to mention what an apt win it was for the G1 Tattersall’s Tiara-bound Palaisipan - Munce having won the 1997 G1 Stradbroke H. aboard Dane Ripper (Danehill {USA}).

It was during the latter years of his riding career that Munce first began to think about a training career, for most of his jockey days his aim mainly to, “Be known as a good rider and a good horseman.”

“I love my horses,” he said, noting that getting to know them as individuals is one of the most satisfying aspects to training. “The art is identifying their strengths and their weaknesses.”

While undertaking his highly successful riding career (one that saw him win a number of Australia’s biggest races including the G1 Melbourne Cup on Jezabeel {NZ}, by Zabeel {NZ}; the G1 Caulfield Cup on Descarado {NZ} by High Chaparral {Ire}; the G1 W.S Cox Plate on Savabeel by Zabeel {NZ}; and two editions of the G1 Golden Slipper S. - Prowl by Marauding {NZ} and Dance Hero by Danzero), Munce took note of the talents of the various high-class trainers he rode for.

“I was lucky enough to ride for the likes of Gai Waterhouse, Brian Mayfield-Smith, Jack Denham, John Size and Paul O’Sullivan in Hong Kong.

“But there is no one rule book on how to train a horse, if there was everybody would be doing it! But we are dealing with individual animals and I was able to take bits and pieces from all those great trainers.”

Munce has also been able to apply the skills he developed during his riding days.

“As a jockey, you get a good guide on fitness levels, what it takes to get them fit and to keep them fit without overdoing it,” he explained.

Plus his knowledge of tracks is a definite advantage - Ipswich a tricky track to ride, Munce able to give winning instructions to his riders on the back of his own riding experiences.

The rider of 42 Group 1 winners himself, Munce is now looking forward to cheering home an elite-level winner as a trainer, noting the differences between the two facets of his career.

“They are chalk and cheese!

“There is a lot of hard work, a lot of heartache and frustration in training. So much goes into each individual race and afterwards you have to take your horse home and try to figure out how to improve them, or how to maintain them,” he said.

“Whereas, as a jockey, I just got on and off and sometimes I would never see that horse again.”

Which is why, he said, training a feature-race winner is a bigger - and more satisfying thrill - than riding one.

And both of Saturday’s winners were such thrills. As mentioned, Smart Meteor was bred by Gooree and Munce rode many a nice horse in their well-known red and black striped colours. Such as the warhorse Desert War (Desert King {Ire}) on whom he won two races; the Listed Gosford Guineas and the G1 Mackinnon S.

Meanwhile he has a definite soft spot for Centrefire.

“My mum and dad and my wife Cathy are in her, along with a lovely bunch of people, so her win was very exciting, one of my bigger thrills.”

Especially as it came in a race named after Gai Waterhouse with whom he enjoyed so much success. And because Munce has always held Centrefire in such high esteem.

“She has always been a really good galloper, she has always promised to deliver in a good race.”

Smart Meteor (whose interesting pedigree is worthy of mention - his sire Smart Missile’s grandam Explosive {USA} by Fappiano {USA} is the dam of his dam sire Northern Meteor) meanwhile has been a challenge to place.

“He won an open Saturday 3-year-old race early days and then got handicapped out at that level. He is not a very big horse and he doesn’t carry weight well so it was just a matter of finding the right race for him - and he was able to get into the Ipswich Cup on the minimum.”

While always having huge respect for trainers, Munce now being of them himself, is full of admiration for the hard workers in the game.

Gallery: Connections of Smart Meteor and Centrefire after winning their respective races, images courtesy of Michael McInally

“It can be a brutal game,” he said. “But there are a lot of good times, but once it’s in your blood, it stays there.”

It’s early January 2008, normally this signals sun, surf, sand and the Magic Millions, but due to the outbreak of the highly contagious Equine Influenza the previous August, there was no Magic Millions at the beginning of 2008.

David Chester was the managing director of Magic Millions at the time and remembers vividly the discussions leading to the Sale’s postponement.

"I mean we were worried about having a Sale at all, and there was a lot of work that went into what was the best time to have it,” he recalled.

“It certainly wasn’t going to be in January… and April’s the Sydney (Inglis Australian Easter Yearling) Sale and we didn’t know whether we’d have to go after that.”

Eventually a March window was identified, and the Sale moved, but not before Magic Millions received signoff from local government and tourism bodies.

“The fact that we were going to have a Sale… the local businesses didn’t lose anything, in fact, that probably gained a little bit more because that’s usually a pretty quiet time,” said Chester.

What this meant was that New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka Premier Sale would be the first Australasian ‘Major’ of 2008. Unlike COVID-19, Equine Influenza wasn’t going to be carried by the annual hordes of Australian buyers heading for Auckland airport and the expectation was for a successful Sale. One of those buyers would ensure it was extremely successful.

Enter Nathan Tinkler

An electrician from the Hunter Valley, Nathan Tinkler had burst onto the scene after he raised enough capital to invest in the Middlemount Coal Mine in Central Queensland. His initial seven-figure outlay ballooned into a more that $250,000,000 sale to Macarthur Coal, only 12 months later.

Tinkler was now armed with the money to invest in his passion. That passion was Thoroughbred racehorses and he tapped Anthony Cummings to help him.

"He sort of came along here and got excited about being in horses,” Cummings remembered.

“It would have been in December or January, somewhere in that time. Certainly not long before the sales were on in New Zealand.”

It may not have been a long lead in, but Cummings and Tinkler devised a fairly simple strategy.

“My normal routine for any yearling sale didn’t change,” said Cummings.

“…what I was trying to do was build a broodmare band from the yearling fillies. I figured (that) from scratch and from where he was, it was going to be a damn sight easier to go along and get into families that he wouldn’t normally be able to get into, buy them at that point.”

Patinack’s arrival at Karaka caught everyone by surprise as Marcus Corban, then the stud manager for Sir Patrick Hogan’s Cambridge Stud, recalled.

“None of us knew… Anthony came; bang, bang, bang looked at the horses… looked at the horses again and again… and then after the first one went, I said to Patrick, 'My god!'

“I’ve been gob smacked in the ring a couple of times, and it’s great watching the theatre… but I’ve never seen anything like it.”

An impactful Gold Coast Sale

The Patinack show rolled into the Magic Millions and continued to break records.

“That year he spent just under $20 million, in a $100 million Sale,” confirmed David Chester. “We had a girl specially assigned to him just to sign him up.”

Cummings remembers the excesses of that Sale vividly.

“The Magic Millions was just silly,” he said.

“I mean, there were some things going for silly money and I would say, 'You can’t pay that for that horse'. If we didn’t buy it Nathan would call up… and go and find whoever bought it and get it from them!”

Tinkler wasn’t the only history-maker at that Sale.

“Clare Lindop, the only female jockey to win a Magic Millions,” remembered Chester.

“And what a wonderful girl she was, I mean Augusta Proud won the Adelaide Magic Millions before.. and came up here and won our race.”

The podcast tracks the 2-year-old campaign of another of More Than Ready’s (USA) offspring, Sebring, and begins to explore the birth of a bloodstock operation that would dwarf even Patinack Farm, financially.