MICHAEL GRANTHAM WINS THE WESTERN AUSTRALIA METROPOLITAN TRAINERS' PREMIERSHIP WINNER

By Graham Potter | Saturday, July 30, 2016

Michael Grantham has secured his first WA Metropolitan Trainers' Premiership, taking out the 2025/26 title by coming home just one win clear of the multiple premiership winners Grant and Alana Williams, after these two stables had fought out a closely contested duel all the way up the home straight.

Going into the final day at Belmont on Wednesday, Grantham held a two win lead over the Williams training partnership (60-58), but he only had runners contesting two races on the day, while runners from the Williams stable were involved in five races on the card, so it was still anybody’s premiership to win.

Things got particularly interesting over races five, six and seven.

Grant and Alana Williams had the $2.60 favourite Silent Diva in the fifth race but the filly failed to live up to market expectations, finishing unplaced.

Grantham and Team Williams then squared up with joint favourites in the sixth race … but neither Conchetta’s Dream (the Williams runner, who finished second) nor American Image (the Grantham runner who finished unplaced) proved good enough to claim victory.

In the seventh race Grant and Alana Williams went one better though, saddling the winner Mai Aloha to cut Grantham’s Premiership lead to just a single win.

That left only two races to go on the card and Team Williams only had a runner in one of them (race 8) and when that runner Streak Of God failed to produce the desired result for the Willaims stable, the race for the WA Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership had finally, officially been decided … and it was time for Michael Grantham to celebrate a tremendous achievement.

It had already been a stellar season for Grantham with the trainer claiming his first Group 1 win in December when Cosmic Crusader landed the Northerly Stakes at Ascot after a titanic struggle with the Grant and Alana Williams trained Watch Me Rock.

Grantham had Cosmic Crusader in his care for a total of seven starts during which time the Maurice gelding won four times, finished second once and third twice, quality performances which encouraged owner Bob Peters, who patronage has been core to Grantham’s rise through the training ranks, to change tack with Cosmic Crusader and target rich races on the East Coast.

That decision necessitated a change of stables with the horse moving to Andrea Leek, where it has already enjoyed a feature race success on the East Coast, winning the Group 3 Bletchingley at Caulfield in his first start for his new trainer last Saturday.

Saturday was Cosmic Crusader’s day. Wednesday belonged to Grantham.

It turned out to be a memorable day which Grantham ended as a big winner without saddling a winner

The WA Metropolitan Trainers' Premiership was in the bank … with the promise of more to come!