History Repeats as Boomba (NZ) Takes Golden Horseshoe

The same connections that won last year’s S$125,000 Golden Horseshoe (1200m) in Singapore with superstar Karaka graduate Inferno (Holy Roman Emperor) struck again on Saturday with a repeat result at Kranji. 

The Barree Stable and trainer Cliff Brown won their second consecutive Listed Singapore Golden Horseshoe with a Karaka graduate, this time with Boomba (NZ) (Showcasing), who was a $100,000 purchase from Book 1 of Karaka 2019. Boomba has now won two of his four starts and S$114,356 (NZ$121,496) in stakes.

After sitting three wide behind the leading trio under jockey Ruan Maia, Boomba quickened stylishly to move into contention in the straight. As the race developed into a three-way fight to the finish, Moomba dug deep and prevailed by a neck.

“I’ve always believed in this horse, I’ve ridden him from his first trial,” Maia said. “He has really improved a lot, and I was confident he would run well today, even if I was scared of the barrier (gate 13).

“But I know he has good gate speed and he jumped very well. I wanted him to travel near the leaders today. At his last start, I waited for the last 200 metres but he was a bit flat and ran third. I was closer this time, and waited a bit longer, and it worked out better.”

Brown’s assistant trainer Tony Lane was also pleased with the up-and-comer’s performance.

“He’s not in the same league as Inferno, but he’s done very well for us,” he said. “Boomba is still immature and can only improve further, but he showed a great fighting spirit today.”

Six of the last eight Golden Horseshoe winners have been sourced from New Zealand.