On a day where some of racing’s biggest names featured at Doomben, humble Toowoomba horseman Rex Lipp turned back the clock to grab the limelight in the Group 2 Spirit Of Boom Classic with Cifrado.
In what shaped as two-horse battle up the straight between the Coolmore-owned Armed Forces and race favourite Appin Girl, Lipp had the last laugh when Cifrado stuck his neck out on the line under jockey Damien Thornton to deliver a $31 knockout for punters.
Photo finish in the Spirit Of Boom Classic! ????
Cifrado causes an upset at huge odds. @_damienthorntonpic.twitter.com/Q7WwdQstzQ
— 7HorseRacing ???? (@7horseracing) May 13, 2023
Lipp won the Group 1 Queensland Oaks with Tinto in 2014 and hinted at retirement at the time, however he has continued to churn out winners from his Toowoomba base.
Purchased by Cliff Little for $320,000 at the Magic Millions last year, Lipp jokes he wouldn’t know the owner if he fell over him in the mounting yard, revealing he has never met him.
“He (Little) had sent me a couple of slow ones from Cairns before, that is it,” Lipp laughed.
“He has sent me this and if he walked in here after this race, he would have to introduce himself.”
In a time of the year when Queensland trainers often find it hard to measure up against the might of big-name Sydney and Melbourne stables, Lipp produced a major Group 1 JJ Atkins contender, with TAB trimming his quote for the 1600m feature from $51 to $15.
It shaped as a major moment for Thornton, who recently made the move north from Melbourne and has quickly established himself as a force in the Brisbane jockeys’ room.
Rex Lipp, with jockey Damien Thornton, upstaged some big names at Doomben.Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography
Thornton was able to hold off superstar James McDonald aboard Armed Forces and his fast-finishing brother Boris on Appin Girl in a three-way finish.
“He’s a colt that’s on the way up, I think he’s going to be a very, very good horse as a three-year-old,” Lipp said.
“His run the other day over 1000m was extraordinary. He had to go back from the bad barrier and he made up a lot of ground and was hitting the line. I actually thought the horse could win today.”
Formerly the Champagne Classic, the race has an impressive honour roll with winners such as Swiss Exile (2022), Prince Of Boom (2021), Rothfire (2020), Dubious (2019), Zousain (2018), Winning Rupert (2016) and Brazen Beau (2014).
Rothfire went on to win the JJ Atkins in his next start in 2020.