Royally bred veteran takes to the road to chase a win at Yeppoon.

Bill Trimble knows better than anyone that owning a thoroughbred with a regal pedigree doesn’t necessarily mean it will be running at Royal Randwick.

He has owned and trained racehorses for a long time. Thirteen years ago, he gave up the training of a big stable of 40 horses at Ipswich and swapped it for a quieter life in Bluff, in the Central Highlands Region of Queensland. He trains six horses there and is the only trainer at the track which he calls home and his workplace. Bill keeps Bluff going, tending to the track maintenance and looking after the facility.

On Tuesday he takes an old mate to Yeppoon’s Keppel Park. Bill’s hoping that 10-year-old Delius, a gelding born with a silver spoon in his mouth, can at least pay for the petrol for the five-hour round trip.

Luck is a fortune in racing and Delius, who will be the oldest horse in the race form guide at Keppel Park, hasn’t had much of it compared to his other family members.

A son of Street Cry and unraced Irish mare, Libretto, Delius has the same mum as 2020 Australian Oaks and Golden Eagle, $7 million-winning champion Collette, the same dad as $26 million-winning super mare Winx, and the same name as a current European champion stayer but Bill’s the first to admit that is where the comparisons end.

“This bloke has won eight races, mainly on bush tracks, and he probably should have won better races than he has, but he has done alright for me during the few years that I’ve had him,” he said.

Delius who has won $140,000 will be lining up for its 88^th start in the Graeme Dougan Memorial  BM65 Handicap (1800m) at Keppel Park and Bill reckons he’ll probably run the 1800m trip better than most.

“Since I got him, he has won two 1800m Bluff Cups, including this year’s Cup, and ran second in another, he has also run second in both the Emerald and Moranbah Cups,” he said.

Adam Spinks will ride Delius at Yeppoon where he has 10 opponents including last start Callaghan Park winner Mocambo (Justin Stanley), trained by Fred Smith, Murrajong Road (Justin Huxtable/Kerrod Smyth), and Street Glory (Olivia Kendal/ John Wigginton) who each have good 1800 metre form.

Tuesday’s Rockhampton Jockey Club Race Day at Keppel Park starts at 1.07 pm with the seven-race program supporting Awareness of Prostate Cancer.

• David Aldred RJC CEO