3 minute read

Matt Kropp will never forget the day when he first started training after quitting his job as a Telstra linesman.

"I know when I started training as my little boy was only one at the time and he's now 23," Matt Kropp said.

That little boy is son, William, who has followed his father's successful path into training and is gradually building a strong team of his own in his fourth year.

It won't be for the first time, but the father and son pair will be arch rivals when they lock horns in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Benchmark 58 Handicap over 1100 metres at Gatton on Tuesday.

Matt Kropp will saddle up Sun Worshipper – and Olivia Kendal mount – while William Kropp will leg up Justin Stanley aboard Yes I'm Ugly.

Sun Worshipper had started five times for two wins including his last start victory over 1050 metres at Rockhampton on October 4.

"We went to Rocky to chase the QTIS prizemoney but she didn't have much luck," Kropp said.

"She was slow away but she was distracted by another one in the barriers which was playing up and she flew home.

"I was going to run her at Ipswich last Friday but the race was abandoned.

"She'll be competitive but being Gatton, she can't afford to miss the start."

Kropp has been a strong believer in travelling horses to improve them and is hopeful Sun Worshipper will join a long list who have proven his theory.

Kropp was a former stock and station agent before he started training 22 years ago.

He spent many years on the land and was a former Telstra employee.

"I mucked around with a few horses early on but I only went full time after I left my job as a linesman with Telstra," Kropp said.

"My first job when I left school was working as a stock and station agent for Elders.

"Both were terrific jobs but I just liked the horses more so went into training full time."

Kropp is wary of Yes I'm Ugly's hopes following his last start win in a maiden at Tara on October 5.

"He's a go forward type of horse and will run well but he's drawn outside of us," Kropp said.