men THE
IN BLACK
by Jessica Owers
How do three mates turn a fledgling bloodstock business, with just a handful of mares, into a racing brand with one of the sharpest strike-rates in the country? Jessica Owers sat down with Black Soil Bloodstock to find out.
I
t’s midday on a Monday at Eureka Stud, high on a hilltop overlooking Cambooya in mid spring. The sun is warm and the flies wicked, and the pretty Mayne’s pest that lines the roadside, with its purple livery in full pop, is everywhere. For Harry McAlpine, it’s business as usual as broodmares step forward for routine vetting, until Tony Gollan and Brian Siemsen stroll into the yard. They shake hands, share a joke and pick up where last they left off. These three are the blood, brains and business of Black Soil Bloodstock, a breeding and racing operation based here at Eureka Stud on the Darling Downs. Siemsen is its principal, “the finance guy”, and McAlpine its bloodstock agent. Gollan is its trainer, and, along with bloodstock consultant John Foote, they’ve had a hell of a year. It started last January when Skirt The Law won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, collecting a $1.5 million winner’s cheque (that included an all-women’s bonus). Then in May, Black Soil was back at the Gold Coast to sell its stakeswinning star Isotope. Siemsen expected around $1 million, and Isotope sold to Yulong for $2.3 million. Each of these men is very different. They’re a breeder, a horse trainer and an insurance guru. Siemsen is the founder and CEO of Claim Central, and a man that took just six years to turn a fledgling company into something worth $55 million. McAlpine, on his childhood home at Eureka, is a third generation studmaster and Tattersalls representative in this part of the world, while Gollan has been Queensland’s metropolitan premiership-winning trainer for 10 successive seasons.
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\ THE MEN IN BLACK \ JESSICA OWERS
But they’re all Queenslanders, reared on the dirt of the Darling Downs. The black soil. They’re a similar age and they’re genuine friends, and the success they’ve had with Black Soil Bloodstock has been a community effort. It’s also a long way from the original idea that was Boom Time Racing. “What a terrible name,” Siemsen says. “Who came up with that?” The three men are sitting around Grania McAlpine’s dining table on the deck of the Eureka homestead. “I’m pretty sure it was me, actually,” Siemsen adds, and McAlpine and Gollan chime in that it certainly was. It might be a thing they won’t let him forget. Boom Time Racing was Siemsen’s foundation company. It kicked off around 2014 when the half-brothers Spirit Of Boom and Temple Of Boom ran first and second in the Doomben 10,000. Siemsen was a major shareholder in both horses, Gollan trained the pair and the McAlpines had bred them. The two horses raced in Eureka colours, and their success was the start of something very big for Siemsen. “After Spirit was retired, I spoke to these guys about what I should do with my share,” Siemsen says. “I had 35 percent of Spirit Of Boom but I knew next to nothing about breeding horses, and I didn’t have a mare at that stage. I went to Harry to ask him about it, and then I spoke to Tony, who put me in touch with Johnny Foote and that inner circle. I ticked along like that for a couple of years, but it wasn’t until four or five years ago that we had a proper conversation about the actual business of Black Soil.”
