Country star Keith has promising 3-year-old gelding

Hillbilly Royalty, undefeated in two starts after winning a first-level allowance Feb. 6 at Oaklawn Park, could see stakes action in the near future, said Donnie Von Hemel, who trains the horse for his Oklahoma-based breeder, the Dream Walkin’ Farms operation of country music artist Toby Keith and his family.

“I think we’ll probably be looking for something,” Von Hemel said. “The Southwest seems a bit too quick. We’ll nominate him around. The Rebel may be something that would be possible. We just kind of need to find the best fit.”

The Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel will be run March 14 at Oaklawn.

Hillbilly Royalty was a 4 1/2-length winner of an allowance Feb. 6, earning a Beyer of 93.

“I thought he ran a pretty legitimate race, set some decent fractions, and was able to go on from there,” said Von Hemel.

Hillbilly Royalty is a Kentucky-bred son of Langfuhr.