Basara to fly Eureka Stud colours

The Eureka Stud colours will be to the fore when talented three-year-old Basara runs at the Gold Coast but even more exciting times are looming for the famous thoroughbred nursery.

Basara is raced by Eureka studmaster Scott McAlpine and some of his friends after she failed to make it to the yearling sale.

He had sent his handy mare Baroque Pearl to Nicconi and intended to sell Basara at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale in January last year but just before the auction the filly failed a scope.

“I didn’t see the point in taking her there because she would have just been handed back to us, so we kept her at home,” McAlpine said.

“I had her scoped again in June and she was about 95 per cent right, so we just gave her time.”

Basara, who is trained by Tony Sears at Toowoomba, now has no problems with breathing although she was a late comer to the racetrack because of shin soreness.

The filly defied a betting drift from $7.50 to $19 at her first start three weeks ago when she won at Doomben over 1050m.

McAlpine is hoping she can improve further when she meets a strong field in the Three-Year-Old Handicap (1100m) on Saturday.

“That was a good win and hopefully she can go on from there,” he said.

It is an exciting time for McAlpine because the first of his stallion Spirit Of Boom’s offspring are set to race in coming weeks.

Spirit of Boom and his half brother Temple of Boom are the most famous horses to wear the Eureka Stud colours and both won in Group One company.

Temple Of Boom is now a show horse and Spirit of Boom stands at Eureka.

“The first official two-year-old trials are in a couple of weeks and the Spirit Of Booms will be out in force,” McAlpine said.

“He is going into his fourth season serving mares. He has already covered well over 400 mares in his first three seasons.

“The extra good thing is his fertility rate which is about 95 per cent. It really is an exciting time for us.”

The winner of the 2014 Doomben 10,000, Spirit Of Boom joins Show A Heart and Falvelon as the only Queensland-trained Group One winners to stand at stud in the state.