Eddie Macken and the one and only Boomerang

Over the period 1975–1979, Macken and Boomerang were to win or take second in a record-breaking 32 major Grand Prix's or Derby events across Europe and in the United States. Boomerang helped Macken top the World Computer Ratings in 1976, 1977, and 1978, while amassing £250,000 in prize money - record winnings at the time.

In 1977 Dr Schnapka gave the outright gift of Boomerang to Eddie Macken.

In 1978 they traveled to Aachen for the world championship where Macken hoped to avenge his narrow defeat on Pele at Hickstead four years earlier. When they reached the final four, the omens were looking positive, but then disaster struck. In the final round Macken was obliged to jump a round on each of his competitors’ horses and on one, Pandur Z, he made a miscalculation and picked up a quarter of a time fault – “like Tiger Woods missing a three-foot putt” – and the slip cost him gold. “Boomerang deserved to be world champion,” Macken said. “Well, he was world champion because he was the best horse there. I wasn’t. I was the one who made the mistake.”

When he and Boomerang were at their peak Macken was barred from competing at the Olympic Games because he was a professional and had sponsorship. The 1979 European Championships, in Rotterdam again proved a disappointment. Boomerang did not knock a single fence in the first three rounds and helped Con Power on Rockbarton, Gerry Mullins on Ballinderry and John Roche on Maigh Cullin to a bronze medal behind Britain and Germany. Boomerang was in the individual lead and heading for gold when a judge made a late decision that he had hit the tape at the water jump, and he and Macken finished in fourth place.

In the fading weeks of that year and, as it turned out, the fading moments of his career, Boomerang and Macken made their first trip to Calgary, won the main class every day and took the du Maurier Classic Grand Prix in September. In October, the duo won their fourth Horse of the Year Grand Prix at Wembley. Lastly, at the second Dublin Indoor International in November, they won the main events on the Thursday and Friday, followed by third place in the Grand Prix. With a double clear, they were fourth in the Grand Prix at Olympia just before Christmas, and that was to be Boomerang's last major individual outing with Macken.

But he and Macken won four consecutive Hickstead Derbies from 1976 to 1979, and also the Hamburg equivalent in 1976. They, along with James Kernan on Condy, Paul Darragh on Heather Honey and Capt. Con Power on (Coolronan 1977, Castlepark 1978 and Rockbarton 1979), won the Aga Khan Trophy at the RDS Dublin (Ireland's Nations Cup) from 1977 to 1979.

In early 1980 Boomerang had to be retired because of a broken pedal bone. Then in May 1983, at 17 years of age, Boomerang had to be euthanized and is buried at Rafeehan Stud, Kells, County Meath. His grave is marked by four evergreen trees. They are symbols of four Hickstead Derby wins, four Championships at Wembley, four clear rounds in the final of the 1978 World Championships, and four years in a row without a fence down in the Aga Khan Trophy competition in Dublin.
Ni bheidh a leithéid arís ann (Irish for "His like will not be seen again").

Major Achievements

1979

• European Championships Team bronze 1979
• Horse of the Year Grand Prix, Wembley, London
• Championship, Wembley, London
• Spruce Meadows Grand Prix, Calgary, Canada
• Team bronze at the European Championships, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Individual 4th, European Championships, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Nations Cup (Aga Khan Trophy), Dublin, Ireland
• Nations Cup, Aachen, Germany
• Hickstead Derby, Hickstead, England
• Hickstead Derby Trial, Hickstead, England

1978

• World Show Jumping Championships silver medal 1978
• Health Trophy, Dublin Indoor International
• Horse of the Year Grand Prix, Wembley, London
• Hickstead Derby, Hickstead, England
• Individual silver medal, World Show Jumping Championships, Aachen, Germany
• 2nd place, Dublin Grand Prix, Dublin, Ireland
• Nations Cup (Aga Khan Trophy), Dublin, Ireland
• Aachen Grand Prix, Aachen, Germany
• Championship, Aachen, Germany
• Rome Grand Prix, Rome, Italy
• Championship, Rome, Italy
• Hamburg Grand Prix, Hamburg, Germany
• Nice Grand Prix, Nice, France
• Gothenburg Grand Prix, Gothenburg, Sweden

1977

• Part of the three in a row Irish Team that won Ireland's Nations Cup, Aga Khan Trophy 1977, 1978, 1979
• Brussels Grand Prix, Brussels, Belgium
• Horse of the Year Grand Prix, Wembley, London
• Nations Cup (Aga Khan Trophy), Dublin, Ireland
• Hickstead Derby, Hickstead, England
• La Baule Grand Prix, La Baule, France
• 2nd place, Nations Cup, La Baule, France
• 2nd place, Grand Prix, Rome, Italy

1976

• Championship, Wembley, London
• New York City Grand Prix, U.S.A
• Helped Macken become Leading Rider in Washington.
• Wins in Toronto gave Macken the overall award for the three shows on the North American circuit.
• Hickstead Derby, Hickstead, England
• Hamburg Derby, Hamburg, Germany - (8th 1975, 4th 1977, 6th 1978)
• Professional Championship, Cardiff, Wales
• 2nd place, Grand Prix, Lucerne, Switzerland
• 2nd place, Nations Cup, Lucerne, Switzerland

1975

• Championship, Wembley, London 1975, 1976, 1979
• Horse of the Year Grand Prix, Wembley, London
• Championship, Wembley, London
• 4 faults, Hickstead Derby, Hickstead, England
• Hickstead Derby Trial, Hickstead, England
• 2nd place, Dublin Grand Prix, Dublin, Ireland
• 2nd place, Nations Cup (Aga Khan Trophy), Dublin, Ireland
• St. Gallen Grand Prix, St. Gallen, Switzerland
• Wiesbaden Grand Prix, Wiesbaden, Germany

A big thanks to Frank Waters and his great book The Golden Age of Show Jumping for this article, a must read for anyone interested in Showjumping's star riders and horses, Many five star reviews on amazon.

References:
Slavin, Michael (1998). Show Jumping Legends, Ireland 1968 -1998.
Horse and Hound, London: 11 February 1988: p. 36.
Hickstead Derby results
Horse Sport Ireland
Aachen results