Even though Craig Williams does not hold the record for the most victories in the Winter Championship Final, no jockey has dominated the day it is run quite like the esteemed veteran rider.
His sole success in the $200,000 Listed Flemington feature came aboard Magic Consol, which was part of a record-breaking performance at the 2018 Finals Day meeting.
That day saw him achieve six wins, the most by any individual rider at a Melbourne meeting. This surpassed the record he shared with several other riders, achieved with five wins at the same meeting two years prior.
He also rode a treble at the 2015 meeting and a double in 2020. Much to the dismay of Williams’ jockey room rivals, that significant meeting was the last time he participated in the event that has ascended to become the jewel in the Victoria Racing Club’s winter crown.
He missed three editions, from 2022 to 2024, due to his humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. This followed being stood down from the 2021 meeting due to an inadvertent Covid protocol breach.
In that year, Williams returned from Brisbane three days before parts of Queensland were declared a Covid red zone, with the designation back-dated to days when Williams was still in the Sunshine State, meaning he was unable to ride.
Williams has only himself to blame for missing last year’s meeting, as his thoughts were far removed from Flemington while the Finals Day features were being decided.
‘I was suspended last year, so I went and did some (ten pin) bowling,’ he stated.
That’s the typical approach for Williams when compelled to miss a major meeting due to suspension. He was famously at the movies when the 2011 Melbourne Cup was run, a race in which he was booked to ride the winner, Dunaden.
The 49-year-old’s concentration is now firmly fixed on this year’s Finals Day, as he aims to secure his 10th Victorian Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership.
Williams leads Jamie Mott by five wins with eight metro meetings remaining before the season concludes on July 31.
He has rides in all nine races at Flemington, with seven of those horses positioned on either the first or second line of betting.
Al Duca is the $2.90 favourite for the 1600-metre Winter Championship Final, entering the race off a narrow second to Seafall in The David Bourke at the same track on June 20.
‘He’s only had one blemish and I think they blamed the track being a bit firm at Bendigo,’ Williams commented on the gelding now under the care of Clayton Douglas.
‘He had a freshen up going into the other day, when he went down fighting.
‘He was great, he’s tenacious and he’s going to take a lot of beating.’
Williams’ shortest-priced ride of the day comes up in the first race, the $150,000 Next Generation Sprinters Series Final (1200m), in which he rides Stars Of Dom.
It will be his first ride on the Lindsay Park-trained daughter of Exceedance, who has metro second placings to her name from her only two starts to date. Williams was buoyed by a trackwork report from fellow rider Blake Shinn.
‘Blake actually worked her on Monday or Tuesday and said that she’s going really well,’ Williams said of the $2 favourite.
‘She’s had two starts, really good form references and been beaten by nice horses when she was beaten both times.’
Williams’ other favoured mount is Losesomewinmore, with whom he will reunite for the first time since partnering the Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained gelding to victory in July last year.
‘He’s won five times down the straight, so he’s a great straight horse,’ Williams noted.
‘If he produces the acceleration that he did two starts ago they’ll have to beat him and, his run the other day, they felt there were excuses for him the way the track conditions were.’
Marwooba is challenging Star Of Macedon for favouritism in Race 2, Decalogue is the second favourite for Race 4, as is Wuddzz in Race 6 and Lucky Lucky Boom is an equal second elect in the last race.
Miss Aria is on the $5 third line of betting in Race 3, while Blethyn Williams’ roughie for the day is a $15 chance in the Creswick Sprint Series Final, which is Race 8.
Get involved with the Winter Championship Final through various Australian betting sites.