It's been a big few weeks for training couples, with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young winning the recent G1 Blue Diamond S. with Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), and the Williamses achievement to not only win one of Australia's richest races with Regal Power (Pierro), but also finish second with Superstorm (Sebring), sits among the great training achievements of recent times.
It’s a success forged by the concept of two highly skilled people working in a true partnership, according to Grant, who made the transition from being a successful harness racing trainer to be full-time in the thoroughbred game around a decade ago.
Alana, who rode over 400 thoroughbred winners and was a Champion apprentice in WA, has been a crucial part of their success.
"The greatest strength we have is her ability on their back. She's an unbelievable judge and she is one of the best riders I have been involved with. Her connection with the animal is amazing, and her assessment of them is spot on," Grant told TDN AusNZ.
"I think I'm pretty good at conditioning them. I think I can look at one and work out what we need to do with it. The two of us, it works out really well. I don’t tell her how to ride them and she doesn't tell me to do the rest of the stuff. We know our place and we are both proud of what each other have achieved."
"I don’t tell her how to ride them and she doesn't tell me to do the rest of the stuff. We know our place and we are both proud of what each other have achieved." - Grant Williams
Grant is very much aware he has Alana to thank for Peters' involvement in the stable. She rode for him as a jockey and tasted her greatest success aboard his Group 1 winning mare Old Money (Old Spice) in the G2 Cox S. nearly 20 years ago,
"Alana rode a lot for Bob when she was an apprentice. I've never spoken to Bob directly about this, but I reckon he had a connection with her. Anyone who meets Alana, she's such a beautiful person and so friendly and I think Bob always had his eye on what she was doing," he said.
"We started off 10 or 11 years ago, he gave us four horses and it’s grown from there."
Alana Williams
The expectation of success
Peters has been a huge investor in Western Australian racing and has a broodmare band the envy of many, sourced from half a dozen families he has strategically focused on.
Regal Power is a result of that strategy, one of eight stakes winners Peters has sourced from either the blue hen Antique (Metal Storm {Fr}) or her daughters.
Regal Power on his way to victory in the All-Star Mile
The Williamses have been Peters' main choice of trainer in WA but he has also sent horses to Adam Durrant, while traditionally, when he eyes feature races on the eastern seaboard, he has transferred his top horses to leading trainers in Melbourne or Sydney.
Such was the case with Group 1 winner Arcadia Queen (Pierro), the blood-sister to Regal Power, who was sent to Chris Waller last year to contest The Everest and Golden Eagle.
Decisions like that are never easy on a trainer, but Grant insists the pressure he and Alana put on themselves is greater than any expectation Peters has on them.
Arcadia Queen
"if you don’t do the job, Bob will send them to someone else. You always have that in the back of your mind. But we are very competitive people. We don't like going into carnivals without winning big races," he said.
"Bob has an ability to give you a clip, without actually telling you so, to let you know you are dropping the ball. Sometimes, it’s hard to cop, but at the end of the day, no-one would know who we were if he didn’t support us."
Saturday's success is a vindication of Williams' theory that top horses are sometimes best served with those who know them best.
"The trainers that Bob has sent these horses to were the best trainers in Australia. But where the advantage is for us is that we know them really well." - Grant Williams
"The trainers that Bob has sent these horses to were the best trainers in Australia. But where the advantage is for us is that we know them really well," he said.
"The best horses we’ve had for Bob, they are not the sort of horses you can just get them eight weeks before a Grand Final and think you can peak them. They've been a bit quirky. We know them better than anyone else. In what we do I think that is a huge advantage."
Success at home and away
What was also pleasing about the success of Regal Power and Superstorm during the Melbourne autumn is that Grant and Alana demonstrated they could not only travel some of the stable across the Nullarbor, they could still successfully mange things back in WA.
Saturday also saw them train a double at Ascot, including the ruling G2 WA Oaks and G2 WA Derby favourite Tuscan Queen (Fastnet Rock) in the Listed Natasha S.
"Hopefully it might open up a few more trips over here. The main thing is that we have to make sure home is running sweetly and we are still getting winners there because that is where it all starts. That seems to be happening," he said.
None of that could happen without the help of their staff back at Karnup as well the assistance of Brent Stanley and his team in Victoria, where Williams has based Regal Power and Superstorm.
Grant also acknowledged the advice of Damien Oliver, who told Williams to bring Regal Power to Melbourne for the G1 Australian Cup, where he ran second, and the All-Star Mile. While William Pike took the glory on board the 4-year-old at Caulfield, Oliver finished ninth on Mr Quickie (Shamus Award).
William Pike and Grant Williams celebrate their All-Star Mile victory
Williams will be back in Melbourne in the spring with Regal Power looking to win a G1 Cox Plate, and Peters will continue to be the main man for he and Alana for the foreseeable future, with their numbers set to ramp up to beyond 50 in the next few months.
"It will be all about the cerise and white, with the biggest challenge bringing horses over here," he said. "I love bringing them over here and taking on the best horses, I reckon it’s mint. It’s what we want to do."
