PRINCE OF BOOM SHOWS ROTHFIRE TRAITS

Prince Of Boom set to compete in Spirit Of Boom Classic

Heathcote was quick to make clear however that he has only seen glimpses of Rothfire in Prince of Boom and isn’t making a direct comparison between the two young sprinters for fear of getting egg on his face. 

The similarities are there though after the Queensland Conditioner saw his runner arrogantly win at the Sunshine Coast on debut.

“He is so like Rothfire in some ways – he has that demeanour, he walks around and nothing fazes him,” Heathcote said.

“Nothing seems to bother him.

“But I am not saying he is as good as Rothfire.

“If I talk him up and he happens to fail on Saturday, it will make me look silly.

“I just think his character is very similar to Rothfire’s.”

Coming into the race off a 6 day back up Prince of Boom has been heavily backed for the race after opening at $13 on Wednesday and reaching $5.50 favourite by close of play Thursday.

Eleven time Group 1 winner Heathcote will be hunting for his fourth win in the race after seeing Chenar (2000), Funtantes (2009) and last year Rothfire win the former Champagne Classic.

The son of Spirit of Boom blew away his rivals on debut scoring a five length victory pulling away from the field with plenty in the tank. Following that win Heathcote admitted he was close to not running Prince Of Boom at all.

“I will be brutally honest, he has flown under the radar the whole way,” Heathcote said.

“Even last Sunday, I told the owners I was 50-50 whether to run him as he had to travel to Caloundra, he was on a heavy track and he had a wide barrier.

“And there were four other trainers who all thought they were going to win.

“But at the coalface as trainers sometimes we tend to look at too much stuff at times, rather than going on our gut feel.

“I just deferred back to (jockey) Ben Thompson who has ridden him in a jumpout, he came in and looked at me with a furrowed look and said ‘Rob, you’ve got a good one here.’

“Put it this way, he’s the only one out of all my juveniles to be nominated for the (Group Two) Sires and the (Group One) JJ Atkins.

“If there is a horse in our stable that has the potential to go to that level, it’s probably this horse.”

Meanwhile, Heathcote has admitted the comeback of Rothfire may not be far away as he continues to progress at his Eagle Farm stables. 

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