Ned masters his craft to honour Kaye Hill

By Jordan Gerrans

International hoop Chris Taylor has praised the condition Master Ned was presented in to the Dalby track on Tuesday as the galloper broke his maiden status in an emotional result for the stable.

Master Ned is prepared by Nanango’s Paul Hill who only took out his own licence earlier this year following the sad passing of his wife and racing industry trailblazer Kaye Hill. 

The 76-year-old Paul is continuing his late wife’s legacy in the sport and has taken over their small team of gallopers since late April. 

Paul is assisted by stablehand Mickey Ashley-Forsythe and trackwork rider Christina Colliver to keep their small team ticking over.

The victory of Master Ned’s on Tuesday was the first since Paul took over the horses in his own name as a trainer.

In a tragic twist of events, Wednesday was the anniversary of Kaye’s birthday.

Jockey Taylor has ridden all over the globe and says the team of Paul Hill, Ashley-Forsythe and Colliver presented the son of Wanted in top condition for Tuesday’s Maiden Plate over 1000 metres.

“It makes it easy when the horse is prepared well and the jockey can just ride,” Taylor said.

“I couldn’t fault the horse in how he looked and how he felt at all.

“It is just getting his temperament sorted and they are working well with him on it.”

The 46-year-old Taylor – who hails from South Africa – took Master Ned to the outside of the field as they turned for home on Tuesday at Dalby and the four-year-old galloper did the rest. 

“He is a nice little horse,” Taylor said.

“Olivia Kendal rode him the start before and she gave me a few little pointers about him. Once he got out onto the track, he knew what it was all about.

“I settled him where he was comfortable and coming around to the turn, he just needed some balancing up and once he got into the straight and had clean air, he got past them quite easily.”

Kaye was the first female to be licenced as a strapper with the Queensland Turf Club back in 1964.

In 2025, and following Kaye’s tireless efforts, the ladies outnumber the men in many stables when it comes to strappers, trackwork riders and apprentice jockeys.

The revered Kaye sadly passed away earlier this year at 75 years of age.

Kaye was a pioneer of the racing industry in Queensland and she was able to go out on top as she trained a winner in the days before her sad passing.

While she was humble during her life, Kaye’s husband Paul said earlier this year that he was going to ensure that he is not modest about her achievements when he reflects on her life.

She made her name as a trainer in recent years, but it was a young Kaye Nichols who created headlines and broke ground for females in racing back in the 1960s.

Well-travelled hoop Taylor says Master Ned has shown signs of being a slightly nervous and timid horse which is an aspect of his development the stable will need to take their time with as he aims to go through his grades.

“Hopefully the horse can do something for Paul this preparation,” the hoop said.

“It would be nice for Paul to have a half-decent horse after what he went through earlier this year.

“They have got to work with what they have got but the horse is not short of ability. They just need to keep him sweet in his brain.”

Taylor heads to Murwillumbah on Friday for one ride before jetting over to New Caledonia to ride over the weekend. 

Young trackwork rider Ashley-Forsythe dreams of becoming an apprentice jockey and says watching Master Ned break through after all the work the team had done with him is certainly spurring her on. 

The 22-year-old was involved with the Hill stable before Kaye’s passing earlier this year. 

“I am so proud of the little guy, he has shown so much perseverance to push through and win a race,” the enthusiastic trackwork rider said.

“He has realised what it is all about with the way he raced on Tuesday.  

“It was incredible to see him win and I am so proud to be a part of the journey.

“Results like this really inspires me to hopefully be able to ride him on raceday as an apprentice.”

Paul said recently that Kaye specifically purchased Master Ned for Ashley-Forsythe to hone her riding skills aboard.