SHE'SGOTTHEBOOM - THE BACK STORY TO A RISING STAR

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Steven O’Dea / Matt Hoysted trained filly She’sgottheboom continues to carry all before her with her unbeaten run reaching new heights at the Gold Coast last Saturday when she powered home in brilliant fashion to win the $500 000 Aquis Jewel Two-Year-Old feature race.

It was the daughter of Spirit Of Boom’s third straight win in a career which only kicked off on February 16 this year, making it an exceptional last thirty-two days for both the stable and the ecstatic ownership group.

Breeder Tamara Rickert, who is part of that ownership group, has played an integral part in the decision-making process which has brought She’sgottheboom to this point in time.

As the breeder of the filly, the immediate future of She’sgottheboom was very much in Rickert’s hands when the filly entered the sales ring in March 2021, in what was ultimately going to be a very influential day in the horse’s career.

“We brought it to the sales in March last year and we just never got the reserve on her,” explained Rickert. “I put a reserve of $60 000 on her and I think she was passed in at $45 000.

“I just thought … I’m not here to give her away. It had perfect X-rays and that and I thought, ah, I’ll find some friends to go in with her.”

While it might have been a ‘no-brainer’ decision at the time, little did Rickert know just how important and valuable a decision it would prove to be. Clearly, as things turned out, it was Rickert’s good fortune that She’sgottheboom was passed in at the sale.

Getting the ownership group together and deciding on a formal name and racing colours for She’sgottheboom were the next steps that needed to fall in place.

“I bred the horse with my two friends … Greg and Cameron. We’ve got the mare together. We then syndicated the horse out. We have got a lot of family in it, close friends and two syndicates,” continued Rickert.

“The boys actually had a naming ceremony in Brisbane so we could meet each other for the first time. It was a process of elimination of names as we went through the afternoon, and, lo and behold, my son’s name choice was the pick of them all. It is a terrific name.”

And there just has to be a story about the selection of She’sgottheboom’s racing silks … white with multicoloured pineapples!

“The pineapples … well, there is a little bit of a story,” volunteered Rickert.

“One of the owners runs a marketing firm and, originally, he brought up with the idea from the old fashioned cartoons, where you had a black cannonballs with a little wick extended out the top of them … and we thought … boom … cannonball … we’ll have multicoloured cannonballs as the colours.

“So, we submitted that … but the stewards rejected it. So, we had to come back and try again. Some of the boys are in a punter’s syndicate called The Juice Club … and they said, hang on, a pineapple looks a bit like what we were going for originally … and that’s how we came to use multicoloured pineapples.

“It’s outside the square. We’ve got a lot of young people in the horse … a lot of first-time owners. You have got to make it fun and make the experience enjoyable. Now they will come into another horse and another horse … that’s how you encourage people to come into the game. It has got to be fun.”

Another noticeable ‘spot on’ decision that was made was the decision not to try and push She’sgottheboom along too quickly. Many have fallen into that trap of succumbing to the Magic Millions lure of a lucrative payday.

“She did have some hoof issues after she got broken in, so we just had her in the paddock at home for quite a while … and we said, no, we don’t want to bust her. We don’t want to push her towards Magic Millions.

“We didn’t know how good she was then and neither did Steve and Matt, but that wouldn’t have changed anything. She has come along nicely and just got better and better.”

Somehow, word did get out about She’sgottheboom’s potential prowess though because she jumped as a $1.70 favourite on debut in that February 16 run.

“She had two trails before her first race,” said Rickert. “The first trial, when she ran third, was a really nice trial. We were happy with that.

“Then, when she won that second trial at the Sunny Coast, we thought … she can run this horse. When I saw the price on that day at Doomben when she had her first run, I thought … people think she is going to win this. She had been backed into favourite. I’d rather be an underdog than a favourite.

“It was nerve-racking because two-year-olds can do anything, but she did win easily in the end.”

Then came the follow-up win at Toowoomba before the Jewel win, the icing on the cake of a glorious first preparation.

“It means everything … when you breed them and they win,” said Rickert.

“As soon as the foals are born at home they are given a name. When she was born we named her Faith. I’ve got two boys and they said, mom, that’s the worst stable name I have ever heard. I said, well, you have got to have faith.

And where is ‘home?’

“We’re at Warwick. Our place is called Roona Lodge. We’ve been there for twenty years just building it up bit by bit. A little bit of agistment, a little bit of breeding and we’ve got a couple of shares in racehorses with Proven Thoroughbreds with Steve and Matt.

“We’ve only got ten mares. We’ve got five clients … wonderful clients. I grew up on a thoroughbred farm from when I was a girl. My father was a trainer and it’s just been in my blood. My husband had nothing to do with horses growing up and now he does everything. He is totally involved.

“At the moment, amongst others, we’ve got the mother of She’sgottheboom (Rosa’s Charm) there in foal to Encryption … but obviously this year she’ll be going back to see her boyfriend Spirit Of Boom.

“It’s nice to have something to look forward to because you have to keep looking forward. Its no use looking backwards.

“We have been lucky enough to have our very good day, but you have to stay humble because you never know what’s around the corner.

“We are just little fish in a big sea.

“My dream was to win race with a horse that I bred. To have a super horse like She’sgottehboom … I’ve already conquered everything I set out to do.

“We are just blessed!”

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