BACK-TO-BACK WINS FOR PROPOSE. WINS AT LONG ODDS

By Graham Potter | Friday, March 20, 2026

When any horse puts back-to-back wins on the scoreboard it is a very pleasing result for the stable as it is a clear indication that the runner is moving in the right direction … and the Matt Kropp team got to enjoy that moment when the chestnut mare Propose made it two-in-a-row in a BM60 Handicap over 1666m at Ipswich on March 20.

The four-year-old had improved on a series of four successive placed runs when striking winning form at Gatton in a Class 2 contest over 1600m on March 1, and she franked that improvement here by taking the next step up to secure a second successive victory when partnered once again by Fred Larson, who rode Propose to victory at Gatton.

That Gatton win brought Propose little respect on the betting boards at Ipswich though. While her price did fluctuate … from $19 to $41 to $31 to $26 … the daughter of Rothesay was always easy to back, and those who kept the faith would have enjoyed the result, albeit it a hard-earned one only secured by narrow margin.

Propose drifted back in the early part and was eleventh out of thirteen runners, some six lengths off the leader, as the field went down the back stretch. You could make that eight lengths in the sweep to the home turn with Larson, having bided his time until then, choosing to hold the inside line along the rail, riding for luck as the field approached the home turn.

The run Larson wanted came almost immediately on straightening, allowing Propose to quickly move from near last up to fourth place as most of the runners fanned out wider across the track.

Now there was only three lengths to make up as the $2.70 favourite Canara and the $21 outsider Cheerful Cat battled for supremacy at the head of affairs.

Propose was up for the fight and, when Cheerful Cat cried enough, the Kropp trained runner was already almost alongside Canara. With 50m left to run it appeared the Chris Waller trained Canara was just doing enough to keep Propose at bay, but, in the very last stride, Larson pushed Propose’s head out on the line to steal victory away from the main fancy in a driving finish.

The run of the race though, came from the William Kropp trained Fire And Light.

Weigh this up for future reference:

Fire And Light ($7.50), who jumped from a wide barrier draw (ten out of thirteen), went back to last soon after the break and raced all of twelve lengths back in the early part. He was still last, swinging eight wide on the turn, still with eight lengths to find.

When Colleen Krahnen gave Fire And Light the green light to go the five-year-old gelding responded well and was soon flying down the centre of the track, passing horse after horse in an eye-catching display of acceleration.

In the end, Fire And Light had given that Propose / Canara battle too big a start … but he bounded up late, closing on the leading two runners with such momentum that he would have won the race in a matter of strides.

As it was, the William Kropp trained Fire And Light had to settle for a highly creditable third place, a fast diminishing 0.55 behind the Matt Kropp trained … a nice first and third for the Kropp Racing team.