William Kropp happy to remain solo as a trainer

By Glenn Davis

Training partnerships are the way of the future for some but young horseman William Kropp is in no rush.

William is the son of popular Downs trainer Matt Kropp and has a small team of six horses in work at Toowoomba.

He works out of the same barn and even rides track work up to six times a day for his father as well as some of his own horses.

“Partnerships are the way of the future but I’m not too worried about doing it,” William said.

“Everything is working fine at the moment and Dad and I virtually work out of the same stables and we share some owners and have some owners of our own.”

William has been training since he was licensed as an 18-year-old.

William heads to Dalby on Friday with one starter, I Promise You, in the Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1400 metres.

He has booked promising apprentice Rob Thorburn, whose three kilogram claim will help offset I Promise You’s weight of 61.5kgs.

“Rob rode one for Dad at Bell recently and he rode it well,” William said.

“He looks to be a good young rider coming through.”

I Promise You is coming off a last start fourth when she led and faded to go down by just over three lengths to the Tony Gollan-trained Brentwood in a 1200 metre Benchmark 72 race at Doomben on January 10.

“She’s dropping in class and has good draw which is vital so hopefully she can be competitive,” William said.

I Promise You will be out to end an almost 12-month losing streak with the six-year-old mare recording her last win in a Benchmark race at Toowoomba in February last year.

I Promise You is owned by Roland and Sharyn Hovey who are passionate and long-time clients of the Kropp clan.

The Matt Kropp-trained Rowdash is entered in the Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1000 metres for Friday.

Matt Kropp has seven runners entered at Dalby but none will clash with I Promise You.