However good people think Joseph O'Brien is at training racehorses, they need to go ahead and double if not treble it. He's scarily brilliant, says American-based owner Wells Watson, whose colours were carried by Irish Oaks heroine Johanna Walsh (Sea The Stars) at the Curragh a little over a week ago. Johanna Walsh is the third horse that Watson has run in Ireland this season. The other two – Sinmara (Kingman) and Celtic Motif (Saxon Warrior) – have also been successful for O'Brien. You could say the Irish trainer has transformed the fortunes of the owner, who insists he has all the battlescars of a man who has been passionate about the bloodstock business from nearly as long as he can remember. But then Andrew Cary, the bloodstock agent who paid €460,000 for Johanna Walsh on behalf of Watson at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2024, has been equally important in the golden run the owner has been enjoying of late. In fact, things have been going so well that Watson, who is in his early 60s, is in the process of winding down his day job in an effort to concentrate almost entirely on his bloodstock interests. He explained, “We're trying to keep it rolling. It's exciting. I've got a great bloodstock agent and a great trainer who has a great team, so we feel like we're in a good place. It's been a zig and a zag, but I feel good about where we are.”Watson added, “The Oaks win is probably only just sinking in now. I have been interested in racing since I was a little kid. My grandfather had some relatively inexpensive horses and a small farm outside of New Orleans and used to take me to the races. I also went to high school with Al Stall, who became a well-known American trainer, and one summer in law school I worked on the backside at Louisiana Downs for Frank Brothers as a hot walker. I still remember the clock going off at 4.15am – it was a great experience and I learned a lot about horse care.“After that, I dabbled in horses in California and Kentucky, did some breeding, and then I met Andrew. From the first conversation we had together, I knew Andrew was someone I wanted to work with so I hitched my wagon to his wheel. He is just an amazing bloodstock guy who lives it. We did a test run in Kentucky, bought a couple of horses that could run but had some unfortunate circumstances. We watched a filly of ours run at Keeneland and a big European rival — a Camelot filly called Flirting Bridge — came and swooped by us. That prompted Andrew to say, “we need to go to Ireland.” That's how we got to Ireland and I stepped up my game from around that time.”Watson could have pointed his steeds towards any stable in Ireland but, again, heeding the advice of Cary, he ended up at Owning Hill. In the space of a few years, Watson now refers to O'Brien's base as his “hub” and explains how the trainer has helped him move his racehorses around the chess board that is the international racing programme. He explained, “Joseph was Andrew's suggestion, and it sounded right. Whatever people think of Joseph, double it and then treble it — he's amazing and his operation is amazing. Every time I visit I'm wowed – the training, the care, Tara [Joseph's partner] and the team, they're all on it. We're glad to be part of it.”He added, “This past week or 10 days has exceeded expectations. The original plan was modeled on Chad Brown – buy Europeans to run in America, particularly California where you wouldn't get the same European types often. But when we partnered with Joseph, the plan morphed a little. We keep some well-bred horses in Europe now to chase black-type. Joseph sometimes recommends sending horses to the States if he thinks they'll suit tight turns and firm ground, which is why we sent a Space Blues colt [dual winner Melismatic] to California and why a Palace Pier filly we bought went to California on his advice also. So the plan now is mixed between some in Kentucky, some in California, with Joseph's yard remaining our hub.”Watson is serious when he says he wants to keep his momentum on the racetrack going. His law days are becoming fewer and, so concentrated he has become on the bloodstock side of life, a move to the Bluegrass is imminent. He shared, “I've been practising law for 35 years and after this year I expect to wind down my law practice and move to Lexington to focus more on the horse business. I'll still finish a few client matters, but I intend to be full-time in horses. I'll be more active at the sales. I will attend sales like Keeneland in person and work closely with Andrew. If I have mares, they'd likely go to farms such as Dell Ridge or to excellent handlers in Ocala like Bridlewood Farm.”He added, “We've taken lumps and had growing pains, like any business. We weathered the storm. If you'd have heard me last week during the race, I didn't sound so cool. I was running around and my youngest son Jack was with me and he thought I was bonkers. But it was phenomenal and I'm over the moon.”Only a fool would deviate from a plan that has delivered Classic success so early in the piece and Watson is nobody's fool. With Johanna Walsh leading his cross-Atlantic string, there are arguably even greater days to look forward to alongside Cary and O'Brien.He said, “We have a small breeding angle going already. We actually bought Flirting Bridge at the sales and have a mare at Coolmore as well. We have a Wootton Bassett yearling to sell and we have horses at different ages with Joseph — two four-year-olds, two three-year-olds and two two-year-olds — so it's a decent number. I like our plan with Andrew and Joseph and, if it could stay exactly as it is, I'd love that.”And as for the future with his star mare, he concluded, “I don't know. I'm clever enough to know what I don't know so I leave all of that to Joseph. She's nominated for a race in France and the Yorkshire Oaks as well so both are possibilities, but Joseph will decide the best spot.”The post “My Son Thought I Was Bonkers!” – Classic Glory Only Beginning To Sink In For Watson appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.