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Matt Williams/OTI … Double Trouble

For almost a decade, OTI has tended to send many of our injury troubled horses to Matt Williams. Sometimes Matt trains them himself, but more often than not, Matt and his team do the rehab work before handing the horses back to their original trainers.

On Sunday however, there was no sign of any trouble as the Williams camp produced wins for OTI owners at Casterton and Geelong with two horses from very different backgrounds. As is often the case, both sets of owners needed to be very patient to achieve success.

It was almost 12 months to the day that Pankhurst arrived from New Zealand as a talented 3yo filly. Like most of our New Zealand horses, Phill Cataldo selected her after he spotted her at the trials. Ready to race, she arrived in Australia only to be plagued with the curse of many young horse, shin soreness. Matt took his time with two subsequent preparations before finally being happy to race her at Casterton last Sunday.

Pankhurst wins at Casterton (Racing Photos).

Seawhatyouthink, who greeted the winner’s stall an hour later in Geelong, had a very different background. After being passed in at the yearling sales in France, OTI purchased the So You Think colt with Simone Brogi, a young trainer based in Pau in the south-west of France. Simone produced the colt as a 3yo for a win and two fourths before the horse suffered a tendon injury. Given the talent shown, it was decided to bring the horse to Australia for rehabilitation and placed him with Matt, under the direction of Dr Andrew Cust of the Ballarat Veterinary Clinic. The result of their work was manifested with Seawhatyouthink’s win in his first race start in Australia.

Seawhatyouthink (FR) ridden by Zac Spain wins the Oz Equipment Rentals BM64 Handicap at Geelong Racecourse in Australia. (Reg Ryan/Racing Photos)

Over the years, OTI, as well as many other trainers have benefited from the combined work of Matt Williams and Dr Cust. Matt has now trained many good horses for OTI including Gailo Chop and Harbour Views, who is set to run at Flemington on Saturday. When so often the people behind the scenes do not get the recognition they deserve, the wins last Sunday were all the more satisfying for all involved.

Matt Williams and Gailo Chop (photo: horsebetting.com.au)