Picture perfect in Karrakatta Plate

Mungrup Stud sire Oratorio (Aus) sired his second G2 Karrakatta Plate winner in a row when Motion Pictures flew home to capture Perth’s premier juvenile event at Ascot on Saturday.  

Motion Pictures (2f Oratorio – Zabore Loch by Marooned) arrived in the nick of time to defeat Melbourne filly Miss Gai Flyer (Flying Spur).  

Oratorio (Stravinsky) is taking WA by storm.  His first crop filly Gold Rocks won the 2009 Karrakatta and he’s now sired 18 winners of 39 races and over $2.06 million.

Oratorio sired the 2010 Karrakatta winner from a nondescript mare who raced around the WA Goldfields for Keith Biggs without any success.  Biggs raced Oratorio to wins in the BTC Tommy Smith Slipper (LR) and Adelaide Magic Millions at two and the MVRC C S Hayes Stakes (G3) as a three year-old.

He has covered over 540 mares in his first five books in WA’s Great Southern.  Mungrup studmaster Gray Williamson increased his fee to $11,000 (inc gst) last year.

Motion Pictures is a Northern Thoroughbreds homebred for Don Hammarquist.  He kept the filly after she failed to make $60,000 at the 2009 Perth Magic Millions.  She has now won four races and earned over $426,000.

“I’ve got three mares in foal to Oratorio and I’m glad I got in early,” Hammarquist said after his filly won at Ascot in March.  “It won’t be long before Gray bumps up his service fee again!”

Trainer Dave Casey is also a fan of Oratorio.  “He’s the State’s best sire prospect for many years,” Casey stated.  “I had a couple of Oratorio yearlings early on and told anyone with a broodmare that he was the stallion to go to.”

Motion Pictures’ dam has a Due Sasso yearling colt and a Danehill Express filly foal and is back in foal to Oratorio.