Former brilliant 2-year-old Ef Troop looked back to somewhere near his best following an authoritative win in Saturday’s Listed Xmas Quality (1200m) at Morphettville.
Settled back third behind the hot pace set by Lagerfeld and Captain Punch, Ef Troop rounded that pair up quickly in the straight the safely held the challenge of Zalmona (Good Journey) by a length and a quarter with Miss Jane (Skilled) a length and a half back in third.
The 4yo son of Spirit Of Boom was making his second start for the Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable after his transfer from Brisbane-based trainer Tony Gollan.
Ef Troop burst out of the blocks at two winning his first two races including the Listed Phelan Ready Stakes before finishing fourth behind Sunlight in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic. He was second in the Group II ATC Todman Stakes before failing in the Golden Slipper.
Wins have been harder to come by since his juvenile days with just a lone win at Doomben at three.
At his first start for the McEvoy stable, he didn’t strike and blow in the Magic Millions 3&4yo Classic at Ballarat on November 23 but was more switched on at Morphettville where he was the third leg of a 4-timer for Barend Vorster.
“We’ve done a bit of work with his at home trying to get him to relax and his work had been superb coming into this,”
I’m just happy for the connections, they moved him to Tony to try and get him to step up to some nice races.
“They ran really quickly down the back and he switched legs a few times trying to keep balanced and keep up the pace but I was always in mind to forget about the front two, just ride your horse and he got there nice and comfortable.
“But what I really enjoyed was when I asked him the question he just kept on kicking.
Co-trainer Calvin McEvoy said the son of Spirit Of Boom would now go to Melbourne for the Christmas Handicap on Boxing Day.
Ef Troop as a yearling
“That was a thrill for the whole stable, he is such a beautiful horse,” Calvin McEvoy said.
“He came to us in great order from Queensland. We took him to Ballarat and nothing went right. He just didn’t show up, the track was a bit shifty and his first start on this leg.
“He’s a very quick horse so for those two horses to go out and lead him quite comfortably it gave me a bit of confidence they were going a bit too fast.”
A $70,000 purchase by Gollan Racing/John Foote Bloodstock out of the Eureka Stud draft at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Ef Troop advances his record to 4 wins and 4 seconds from 14 starts with earnings of $446,175.
He is the best of four winners from as many to race out of the winning Exceed And Excel mare Limealicious who was purchased by Newgate Farm for $350,000 off Eureka Stud at the 2018 Inglis Chairmans Sale when carrying a full-sister to Ef Troop.
Limealicious foaled a Capitalist colt on September 24.
Spirit Of Boom has 11 catalogued for Gold Coast and six for the Inglis Classic.
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