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It was a memorable weekend for devoted breeder/owner Ross Williams and respected Kembla Grange trainer Gwenda Markwell.

Williams and Markwell combined to win the $2 million ATC Australian Derby at Randwick with the Animal Kingdom 3YO Angel Of Truth, marking a first G1 win in Australia for the former shuttle sire.

For Williams the weekend got better as he backed up on Sunday with another of his home bred products Superium, trained by Joe Pride, capturing the $150,000 Wellington Boot for 2YOs.

Williams first got involved in the thoroughbred industry in 2000 and in the subsequent years has spent a lot of time studying pedigrees as his racing and breeding interests expanded.

He currently has around 20 horses in work with city, provincial and country trainers with the majority bred from his own mares.

“I lease some of them out but I have bred 95% of what I race and it’s been working out pretty well with around 33% winners to runners,” Williams said.

Williams breeds under the banner of Superhorse Trust and has some 20 mares with 14 currently carrying foals. They include Scarletini, the dam of Angel Of Truth, in foal to Stratum Star.

Scarletini, by Bernardini, was purchased for $80,000 by Williams at the 2015 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale after she met his genetic standards.

“I put a great deal of time and effort into my breeding program and have spent well over $100,000 on genetics research,” Williams said.

“The studies have narrowed it down to seven unique bloodlines and I look closely at dominant and recessive traits.

“I don’t follow fashionable trends and that’s often worked against me in terms of trying to get yearlings into sales but it certainly paid off on Saturday with Angel of Truth.”

Angel Of Truth boasts a pedigree that underscores Williams’s faith in his breeding program as his pedigree is full of classic links.

His sire Animal Kingdom ((Leroidesanimaux) is a Kentucky Derby winner, his dam is by a Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini and his own sire A.P. Indy won the Belmont Stakes and was sired by US Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew from a mare by the legendary Triple Crown hero Secretariat. The family is connected to English Derby winner Generous.

The seven day Tulloch Stakes/Derby double completed by Angel Of Truth came some 15 years after Markwell won her first G1 race with Grand Zulu in the BMW (Tancred Stakes) at Rosehill in 2004 beating the likes of Elvstroeml, Mummify and Makybe Diva.

The leading trainer at Kembla Grange for some 16 years, Markwell was denied running Grand Zulu in the AJC Derby that year when his Chinese owner elected to terminate his Australian career and transfer him to Hong Kong after the BMW.

“A lot of people, myself included, tried to convince Grand Zulu’s owner he should run the horse in the Derby but he decided to send Grand Zulu straight to Hong Kong to race,” Markwell recalled.

Angel Of Truth who has now won five of his eight starts and continues the belated surge of success being enjoyed by Animal Kingdom’s runners in Australia that include four stakes winners.

Animal Kingdom, who also won a Dubai World Cup, is standing at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky after shuttling to Arrowfield Stud for four seasons. He has sired 10 stakes winners in total.

Angel Of Truth is the first foal from Scarletini, a winner up to 2400 metres and a half-sister to Listed winner Franjelica (Snippets). They are daughters of the unraced Red Ransom mare Red Light

Angel Of Truth’s fifth dam Margarethen (Tulyar) is the matriarch of the line that has produced European champions Treve, Trillion, Triptych, Narrative, Generous, Imagine, Australian G1 winner Tawqeet and Hong Kong Horse of the Year Bullish Luck.

Scarletini also has a 2YO filly by Uncle Mo in training with Markwell and a yearling filly by Adelaide.

Angel Of Truth become the third horse in succession to land the Tulloch Stakes/Australian Derby double after Jon Snow in 2017 and Levendi in 2018.