Rex Lipp lands double as Toowoomba trainers sweep Eagle Farm feature races

Cifrado’s win in the Lough Neagh Stakes gave Rex Lipp a stakes double at Eagle Farm, capping a successful day for Toowoomba trainers.

Cifrado charges home to win the Lough Neagh Stakes at Eagle Farm: Picture: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography

Team Toowoomba landed a blow on their city slicker rivals at Eagle Farm on Saturday, taking out a three-feature sweep on the day to cement their status as one of the premier thoroughbred training centres in Queensland.

Veteran trainer Rex Lipp enjoyed a stakes double, taking out the Listed Gold Edition Plate with Superalloy and the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes when the North Queensland-owned Cifrado romped in on a bog track.

It came after the Tony and Maddy Sears-trained Beau Dazzler took out the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes, while Michael Nolan also chimed in with Mixed Signals earlier in the day.

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It is just the second time Lipp has enjoyed a stakes double, two years after he did it with Simply Fly and Tycoon Evie Doomben.

In a dreary Brisbane day, Cifrado was the star performer for Lipp and Cairns-based lotto winner Cliff Little, who mostly chooses to avoid going to the races when his star runner is racing.

“I’ve just got 20 horses in work, I have what they would call a boutique stable these days, but you have to have horses that can win these races,” Lipp said.

It's a Rex Lipp feature double as Cifrado wins the Listed Lough Neagh with @bozzathornton in the saddle!@BrisRacingClubpic.twitter.com/RNrdhwIaSm

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) December 14, 2024

“You have to sort them out and work out the ones that can run and get rid of the ones that can’t, we are trying to find the next Cifrado.

“He has done a great job, I’m very pleased for the owner.

“Last preparation he was gelded mid stream and still did a great job

“He will go onto the Magic Millions now, I may not even give him another start between now and then.”

Little, a former disability worker, won $40m in lotto in 2021 from a $26 ticket and took up horse ownership as a hobby.

He tasked Lipp with finding him a horse to race in southeast Queensland and came up with Cifrado, who took his earnings to almost $1.5m with Saturday’s win.

Former Toowoomba local and 11-time champion trainer Tony Gollan also landed a double on the day.

Originally published as Rex Lipp lands double as Toowoomba trainers sweep Eagle Farm feature races