Meet the Rockhampton horse with a cult following giving his city rivals Hell

Just like Mystic Journey became famous for her trips on the Spirit Of Tasmania to Victoria, Hell is gaining a cult following in Brisbane for his seven-hour float trips into town, where he is on a winning streak.

He’s the Rockhampton rocket who gets floated to Brisbane each start and could soon be aiming up against the state’s best sprinters in the Group 3 George Moore Stakes.

Hell – trained by former rodeo man Nick Walsh – is on a winning streak in Brisbane, gaining a cult following for his breakneck racing style.

Walsh used to ride bucking broncos for a living and now Hell is taking him on a wild ride of his own following his electric win in the Benchmark 78 (1200m) on Saturday.

Just like Tasmanian galloper Mystic Journey became famous for ferry trips to Victoria to race each time, Hell is clocking up the miles – but in a float instead, seven hours each way from Rockhampton.

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“Everyone loves him, it’s fun bringing him to town,” Walsh said.

“We’re going to see what we do when we get him home, but we were thinking of something like the George Moore at the end of the month.

“He was nominated for the Keith Noud on Saturday, but we wanted to let him win his way up there.

“Small fish are sweet sometimes, so we will look at the George Moore if everything is OK.

Ronnie Stewart rounds out a winning double at Doomben aboard Hell. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

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“He has been going back a forth to Rocky each time and I was going to just leave him here with someone, but the boys said to me let’s not change what isn’t broke.

“So I guess we will be driving him up and down in the future too.”

After having five starts for Tony and Calvin McEvoy in Victoria, Hell arrived to Walsh’s Rockhampton stables a maiden, which quickly changed.

Originally sold as a yearling for $290,000 at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Hell has now won six of his eight starts for the trainer and is proving a bargain buy for connections.

Hell is just too good for them at Doomben - and that's his 4th win in a row!@BrisRacingClubpic.twitter.com/tNDknmRkHv

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 9, 2024

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“We got him online for $35,000, the guys at One Syndications picked him out,” Walsh said.

“I don’t know how we got him for that price.

“He’s not a very hard horse to train, so we just keep him on the fresher side and win him every three or four weeks.

“I thought (jockey) Emily (Lang) might have gone a bit slow at the corner, but if he’s in front at the turn, he’s always going to be hard to mow down.

“It was good to be able to see him sprint off a nicer tempo.”

Originally published as Meet the Rockhampton horse with a cult following giving his city rivals Hell