Cup Boom as local goes Zoom

By David Nagel
THE grandstand at Cranbourne racecourse was almost lifted off by cheering locals on Sunday as the Ken Keys trained Boom ‘n ‘Zoom scored an emotional victory in the $200,000 TAB Sporstbet Cranbourne Cup (2025m).
The Cranbourne trainer was mobbed by excited owners and well wishers as jockey Craig Newitt returned the six-year-old gelding to scale after careering away to win by nearly three lengths.
Keys has experienced the joy of a hometown cup victory once before, in 2006 he trained Blue Collar Jack to success, but it didn’t stop his top lip quivering as he tried to contain his emotions.
“Pretty excited…pretty excited, he just had to get off the fence but once he did everything just panned out nicely,” Keys said, as the hugs, kisses and tears continued in the background.
“For a few months now this has been the plan, we set the horse specifically for this race; he’s been working well so we expected a big run.
“Right now, it’s just pure relief; I probably won’t start to appreciate this until tomorrow.”
Key’s doesn’t believe in the saying, ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ and mapped out an unconventional plan for the son of Dash for Cash to have him cherry ripe for the big day.
Boom ‘n’ Zoom went into the 2025m race second-up after powering home first up over 1600m in the Bairnsdale Cup but Keys had no concerns about the step up in distance so early in his preparation.
“He races his best when he’s fresh; I have to get him fit by training, not by running him in lead-up races, he just wouldn’t respond,” Keys said.
“I put the blinkers on him recently and that seemed to freshen him up even more; you’ve always got to try new things.
“Training has changed these days, you really have to understand your horse and there’s no set rule to how you prepare them for the longer trips.”
Despite being over the moon with Newitt’s ride, Keys felt for Boom ‘n’ Zoom’s regular jockey, Lincoln Coffey, who has put an enormous amount of time into the horse.
“Lincoln Coffey could have been riding this horse today, he’s been fantastic, he’s trialled the horse, rode him in races, he’s just a big part of what we see today, I really feel for him.” Keys said.
So where to now for Boom ‘n’ Zoom, who has now won four races from his 21 starts with three seconds and five thirds and a rapidly increasing $268,000 in prize money.
“Mate, it looks like the Bendigo Cup might be his next start, it’s a big race but we won’t be around locals there, will we?”
The crowd at Cranbourne on Sunday knows exactly what he’s talking about.