WESTERN Australia breeder Gray Williamson always had an opinion of an orphan colt by his new stallion Oratorio, but such was his temperament that when it came to branding him, he was given 66 over 6 - the mark of the beast, reports The Age. It adds: ''It wasn't done by accident. He could get pretty fiery on occasions and I think it took three different breakers before they had him properly educated,'' Williamson said.He might have been a handful as a colt in his younger days but Waratah's Secr
WESTERN Australia breeder Gray Williamson always had an opinion of an orphan colt by his new stallion Oratorio, but such was his temperament that when it came to branding him, he was given 66 over 6 - the mark of the beast, reports The Age.
It adds: ''It wasn't done by accident. He could get pretty fiery on occasions and I think it took three different breakers before they had him properly educated,'' Williamson said.
He might have been a handful as a colt in his younger days but Waratah's Secret, now a gelding, channels his energies into racing and he goes into tomorrow's group 2 Winterbottom Stakes at Ascot with four wins from as many starts.
Williamson bought Waratah's Secret's dam Blissfully, who was unplaced in two starts, for a client a dozen or so years ago. She was a half-sister to Perfect Evening, a dual listed winner, and her dam was a three-quarter sister to high-class two-year-old Blazing Saddles, but the main attraction for Williamson was that she was by Zabeel.
The client elected to sell Blissfully before any of her foals had raced but Williamson had not lost faith and bid to $10,000 at a dispersal sale to take her back to his Mungrup Stud south of Perth.
With Blissfully succumbing to a colic attack just eight weeks after foaling Waratah's Secret, Williamson has had plenty to do with him since his early days and says he has always had something special about him.