Team Teal will not be the only splash of colour in Wednesday night's opening race at Ballarat harness races, when a skewbald stallion returns from a seven-year lay-off to battle a nine-horse field that includes his son.
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The unusual occurrence hails from the stable of Karlene and Graham "Tinny" Tindale, whose life-long involvement in the trots has taken a back seat to travel for most of the past decade.
The change in lifestyle is the reason their nine-year-old skewbald stallion Ernie Eldorado's career stuttered after three starts in 2013.
That all changes at Bray Raceway, when the horse by Safari out of dam Elegant White Star steps out for the Support Team Teal Vicbred Maiden Pace alongside his four-year-old son Ernieson, which is having his first start.
"Ernie Eldorado was named after Tinny's father," trainer Karlene Tindale said.
"For the past eight years or so we have been travelling for half of the year and so don't have time to have horses in work.
"We came home in November, he was feeling good, so we stuck him in work with the others and thought we may as well race him."
Before moving to Victoria in 2007, the Tindales trained extensively from Serpentine in Western Australia, including breaking in and preparing thousands of babies for Mick Lombardo's Lombo fleet as well as training plenty themselves.
Karen said they had about 60 horses in work in Perth, but had stepped back to hobbyist status in their latter years to travel and escape the Ballarat winters.
"We love the coloured horses and have had them for years," Karen Tindale said. "Ernie (Eldorado)'s a bit special, being named after Tinny's father, so we have kept him.
"We really don't know how he's going to do. Of course he will need the run, he hasn't trialled, but hopefully he will go well. He's the best coloured horses we've bred, generally they don't run very fast."
Ernieson is out of Life Of Chiquita, but not skewbald.
"(Ernie Eldorado's) better than Ernieson, who's a beautiful little pacer and a lovely little horse, but he's going to need the experience."
Beyond the results, the Tindales are just looking forward to being trackside again and watching their home-bred troop strut their stuff.
"I'm looking forward to tonight," Karen said. "We will be surprised by what they do, it will be exciting. We love it, it's in our blood. I just hope they go good."
