KROPP RACING STABLE UPDATE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 23, 2026

May 21 was a good day on the road for Kropp Racing with Matt and William Kropp … between them … saddling three winners and gaining one second place finish from five runners at the Rockhampton meeting.

The William Kropp trained Always Delivers set the tone for the day when striking in the second race on the card … a QTIS Maiden Plate over 1400m … winning by 0.77 lengths as the $2.70 second favourite under jockey Brandon Lerena.

The lightly raced, three-year-old chestnut was having only his third career start here and he found significant improvement on his previous two unplaced runs, sealing the honours with late dash which saw him finish over the top of the best of his rivals when it mattered most.

After an ordinary getaway, Always Delivers did have to be rustled along by Lerena in the early part, but the Kropp trained runner quickly found a handy place mid-race until the home turn, racing just a touch over two lengths off the lead in a bunched field.

On straightening and facing the long 600m run-in, Always Delivers was initially left a bit flat-footed which allowed the leaders to slip away by four lengths and, again, Lerena had to get to work early in the saddle.

With Always Delivers inexperience counting against him, it took the whole of the first half of the straight for the son of Trusty Lad to really get the message but, when he did, he started to extend with meaning gradually making up ground at first … and then more quickly … as he went past the $18 outsider Holler Dash, who was carrying 6kg less than the Kropp trained runner – a fact which emphasised the merit of the victory, to claim a winning advantage.
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Two races later Matt Kropp put his name on the scoreboard when Thebarberofseville took out a BM65 Handicap over 1600m, again with Brandon Lerena doing the honours in the saddle.

Thebarberofseville had finished in an eye-catching second place at Doomben over 1630m four runs prior to this Rockhampton assignment. He was unplaced in his three subsequent starts but did finish on the fringe of the placings … that record being enough to see Thebarberofsaville installed as the $2.35 favourite here.

Lerena eased Thebarberofseville back from his wide draw at the start, immediately giving away a six length start to those who went up to contest the lead. You could make that deficit seven lengths as Lerena continued to bid his time down the back stretch and into the sweep to the home turn, but Lerena then moved the Kropp trained runner closer in the approach to the home turn, albeit racing three wide.

That left the son of Better Than Ready perfectly poised to strike on straightening, but the two steps needed to claim victory did not come easy.

Firstly, there was the matter of having to reel in the runners in front of him and Lerena had to work hard as he encouraged Thebarberofsevelle to do that … Lerena was certainly earning his percentage after having been similarly active on Always Delivers earlier in the day … and, once Thebarberofseville had got to the front, he then had to stay strong over the last 200m to see off the persistent challenge of the $18 outsider Moissanite who remained a threat all the way to the line.

The winning margin was 0.31 lengths with Thebarberofseville showing true grit when carrying 3.5kg more than the runner-up to victory.
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Again, after just a one race break, the Kropp name was back in the winners’ enclosure … this time with the Willaim Kropp stable completing a double on the day when Scruffy saluted in a BM55 Handicap over 1050m, putting some real value in proceedings at a starting price of $11.

This win gave Brandon Lerena a treble on the day.
Scruffy was first-up after an eight month break away from racing … which would have, in part, accounted for the double figure odds … but the daughter of Duporth had previously shown a liking for the Rockhampton track, winning her last two starts there, so there was a factor in play in her favour and she duly made the most of that preference to complete a hat trick of wins at the venue.

Drawn ten out of eleven, Lerena, as he did with Thebarberofsaville, took Scruffy out the back in the early part … ducked across to the rail … raced well back early ... saved ground in the sweep to the home turn … but straightened with a wall of horses in front of him with no clear passage immediately available.

Scruffy actually raced close to heels with 450m left to run and had to be checked by Lerena … and that could have been the race, but perseverance is a wonderful thing and, even when Scruffy was again baulked in-between runners with 250m left to run, he just kept coming under a determined ride from Lerena.

There was still one more switch to come though, this time Lerena taking Scruffy back into a run on the inside where she had the room to unleash the powerful finish that had been on hold for much of the straight … and power home she did to win in emphatic fashion.

Two races later … ok, this race did not quite follow the Kropp wining sequence of every second race on the day … but it did produce the next best thing with the Matt Kropp trained Heroic Beach finishing second in a Ratings 0-55 Handicap over 1400m.
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Two days later, On May 23, the winning roll continued with Matt Kropp scoring with Cryption’s Desire in a Maiden Plate of 1890m at Toowoomba.

This win an absolutely well-deserved reward for Cryption’s Desire after the lightly raced three-year-old had been knocking at the door, finishing second (twice) and third in his three previous starts when following a progressive step up in race distance … from 1400 to 1700m to 1950m … before stepping back to 1890m here and getting the job done in the kind of clearcut fashion you would expect from a $1.35 favourite. The winning margin was 2,64 lengths.

It was an easy watch with Brandon Lerena taking the Kropp trained runner straight to the lead … holding that position easily going down the back stretch … increasing both the tempo and his lead coming through the sweep to the home turn, leaving his rivals scrambling …and then completing what was essentially a one horse race with a winning romp in the home straight.

Earlier, William Kropp put another second place on the board when Sweet Pretender finished runner-up in a Class 1 Handicap over 1625m at Toowoomba.

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