Leading racehorse breeder and owner Colin McAlpine has died aged 84 after a long illness.
McAlpine was one of the most dominant figures in Australian racing for five decades and was one of Queensland’s most successful breeders and owners.
He took over the Eureka Stud, at Cambooya near Toowoomba, in the early 1960s from his father Andy who had run it for 20 years.
McAlpine turned it into a showpiece and his work has been carried on by a third generation with his son Scott now the studmaster.
Eureka stud has produced Group winners in all states which is a tribute to Colin McAlpine’s ability to select sires suitable for Australian conditions.
The imported Lumley Road gave Eureka one of Australia’s best stayers of the 1970s, Grey Affair, who won the Group One Doomben Cup, Brisbane Cup and Chipping Norton Stakes.
Lumley Road was followed by a long list of imported sires including Semipalatinsk, Piccolo and Puissance.
The stud has produced four Magic Millions winners, and in recent years has got a long line of Group One winners including Picaday, Just Now, Scenic Peak, Show a Heart, Temple of Boom, Spirit of Boom, Tinto and Skalato.
As an owner-breeder McAlpine had close associations with many top trainers including Colin Hayes, Jim Atkins and Bruce McLachlan.
Scott McAlpine said it was the end of an era in Australian racing as his father was a larger than life figure.
“It is no secret he had been ill for some time and spent the past two months in hospital. But his death came a bit sooner than we expected,” McAlpine said.
“Dad will be remembered as a trailblazer who helped put Queensland racing on the national and international maps.”
Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association President Basil Nolan said it was a sad day for the entire Australian racing industry.
“Colin was a true pioneer and one of the first people to ‘risk’ importing stallions. His gamble paid off and he broke new ground,” Nolan said.
Colin McAlpine considered the best horse to come off Eureka to be the Australian Oaks winner Just Now who also won the Group One Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.
Just Now, who he also raced, was just one of many top horses by Semipalatinsk who was Australia’s leading stallion by winners on several occasions and Queensland’s overall champion five times.
McAlpine joined the TBQA in 1956, was President for 17 years and was also President of the Thoroughbred Breeders Australia for 14 years.
His funeral is expected to be held early next week in Toowoomba.
