Chanelle Lawson Photography
Millionaire trotter Keystone Del didn’t win his first race until he was a five-year-old and Cambridge trainer Tim Hall is hoping that bodes well for his close relation Keystone Cavalier, who secured his maiden victory at the same age in the Horse & Jockey Trot (2200m) at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday night.
Keystone Cavalier is out of a full-sister (Ronerails Lass) to the 10-time Group One winner, who Hall trained to two victories in New Zealand before he crossed the Tasman to win a further 40 races and nearly A$1.1million in stakes.
While Hall doesn’t expect Keystone Cavalier to reach those same lofty heights, he was pleased with his win on Thursday and is excited for the future with the son of The Pres.
“He went well, he put it all together and it was a great drive too (by Fergus Schumacher),” Hall said.
It was just the sixth start for the gelding who was runner-up at the Waikato track earlier this month before finishing seventh at Alexandra Park last start after being inconvenienced at the start when locking wheels with Smartly Spoken, tipping out trainer-driver Nicky Chilcot.
“Things just didn’t go right with the incident at Auckland, but I still thought he would go well, although you never quite know with maiden trotters,” Hall said.
“He trotted well the time before that at Cambridge, but in saying that he did break, so you couldn’t be too confident. He seemed well and got the job done, which is the main thing.”
Hall has been patient and has taken his time with Keystone Cavalier, knowing that he comes from a slow maturing family.
“The whole family does take a bit of time,” Hall said. “He just wasn’t trotting quite as well last time in, so we just put him out and brought him back and he seems pretty good this time really. As he gets stronger he will get better too.”
Hall also has a lot of time for stablemate Keystone Comet, a four-year-old Andover Hall half-brother to Keystone Del, who recently qualified and is set to make his raceday debut this season.
Breeders Pat and Michael Hall, Tim’s father and uncle, share the same sentiments and are sending his dam Flipside back to Andover Hall after missing to Majestic Son last season.
“Flipside isn’t in-foal, so she will be bred again this year and Ronerails Lass is in-foal to Majestic Son.
“At this stage we will try and go to Andover Hall with Flipside, but with the frozen semen it gets a little bit tricky.
“We do have plenty of time because it’s nice and early in the season, but it may end up that we go to a fresh semen horse if it proves tricky to get her in-foal. She is getting a little bit older too, which always makes it harder.” – Cambridge Raceway
