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Punters have a love/hate relationship with Craig Williams, but if you followed him on Saturday you’d walk him down the aisle.
The evergreen jockey rode an amazing six winners on the nine-race card at Flemington. Surely a record at racing headquarters.
His performance, along with Nature Strip’s win, were the talking points of a big day of racing.
Williams rode Mintha ($2.75), Sixties Groove ($1.65), Miss Gunpowder ($5), Falago ($8), Magic Consol ($7) and Camdus ($7) to victory.
In doing so, he extended his lead in the Melbourne jockeys premiership to nine over Damien Lane. Williams has 59 winners for the season and is surely safe in the lead.
“Two months ago, I had a lean month for winners, but my management team identified that I’d been riding well,” Williams said on Saturday.
“I’m happy with my body and happy with my decision making and it’s all come together. Six (winners) anywhere is a great effort.
“They were all prepared really well and they ran their hearts out today. You get lucky on certain days.”
No doubt the Willow of old will return next weekend when punters are on board and he manages to run up backsides in the straight. But that’s racing.
Nature Strip must go to The Everest
If you are a slot owner with a vacant position for The Everest, get on the phone to Darren Weir now.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s not the best sprinter in the land, but he’s certainly worthy to line up in that race.
To the untrained eye, his win in the Listed AR Creswick Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday was not all that impressive.
He started $1.30 and never looked like losing, but didn’t put a margin on the field as many expected.
But it was as good a win as any on Saturday and that’s because there was a howling wind at headquarters which made life tough for horses without cover.
So for Damien Lane to lead and win without another horse putting any kind of pressure on Nature Strip says that the horse is the real deal.
The time of 1:10.05 and a final 600m of 35.06 seconds was perfectly respectable in those conditions.
When you put it into perspective, the final race of the day, over the same distance, was run more than two seconds slower in 1:12.44, which equates to about 12 lengths.
Racing doesn’t work like that from a scientific point of view, but based on the clock, if Nature Strip race in the final event on the program he wins by 12 lengths.
“He looked to travel a bit strong and that’s what probably took that bit off him late,” Weir said after the race.
“He’ll come on from that because he had a really good gallop – he had to get after him a bit at the end to make him go and the last time he cruised through the line.
“He probably looked like he was going to explode away but when they over travel like he did it takes away the brilliance late – he had his ears flat back today. You can only win and we look forward to the future.”
Lane admitted Nature Strip, a three-year-old son of Nicconi, didn’t enjoy the windy conditions.
“He didn’t like it, he wanted to charge against me a little bit but he was still too classy,” the jockey said.
“He went great again today – he just didn’t get into a rhythm because of the wind.”
Based on all of that, I’d be giving Nature Strip a run in The Everest on October 13. Mostly because he’s in the hands of one of the best trainers in the country and he’s a horse that makes his own luck.
I’d rather have a horse like Nature Strip in the race than one that gets back in running and needs things to go their way to win.
Whether he could win the country’s richest race with the likes of Redzel breathing down his neck remains to be seen, but there are some horses with less ability already confirmed starters, so I’d be happy to have Nature Strip in my corner.
Four Corners will be a must-watch
While racing fans enjoy the spectacle and the challenge of finding a winner, we all know there’s a dark side to the industry.
The ABC has promoted its Four Corners piece on the some of the scandals of racing, particularly an alleged doping conspiracy involving five trainers.
It will sure to get tongues wagging, both inside the industry and in the wider public arena. It is important to remember that for every Winx and Black Caviar, there are countless people doing the wrong thing behind closed doors.
Horse racing has battled scandals since Ned Kelly was a boy, but has survived because dodgy antics have always been accepted as part and parcel of the industry.
In fact, stories like the Fine Cotton affair and the attempted murder of Phar Lap are told with a tinge of nostalgia, rather than disgust.
But we live in new times. The live baiting scandal in the greyhound industry forced widespread changes to the sport because the modern generation does not accept cruelty to animals. And nor should we.
Racing is at a critical point where it is struggling to attract new faces to the track. Doping horses will be seen as an act of animal cruelty. The whip is already under pressure to remain in the game.
I’ll be tuning in tonight to see what is revealed. Nothing will surprise me.
Racing works hard to keep a clean image. Jurisdictions do more for integrity than they ever have. But the change has to come from the participants.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Horse to follow
Goldifox was beaten by a fair margin by Good ‘N’ Fast, our best bet of the day. So while it was great to get the win, you can’t help but feel Goldifox was a little unlucky.
She finished third and was well held at the line, but a better ride from Chris Parnham could have made the difference. He was side-by-side with Good ‘N’ Fast in running, but opted for inside runs, instead of pushing to the outside.
As it turned out, Goldifox ran into backsides and Parnham had to check his way into clear running. By the time he got out, the bird had flown.
Parnham was subsequently suspended for 20 meetings after being found guilty of reckless riding.
Chief steward Terry Bailey, in his final metropolitan meeting before leaving for Singapore, said Parnham’s actions almost had severe consequences.
“It’s unfortunate, but we nearly had one on the ground, through your actions,” he said.
I reckon Goldifox is one to follow.
Horse to forget
Gaulois was very plain in the Silver Bowl Series Final at Flemington. He had a perfect run in transit, but didn’t finish the job. He’s a very consistent horse, but is not winning enough for mine, with three victories from 15 starts. Not sure where Anthony Cummings places him next start, but he won’t get my money.
How we went
Miss Iona was scratched from Doomben, so we had two go around at Flemington and two go around at Randwick. The Sydney runners were disappointing. Roughie Oklahoma Girl was flat as a biscuit, while Nahuel was terribly disappointing. In Melbourne, Gaulois had no excuses and ran third, but our best bet of the day, Good ‘N’ Fast, was an impressive winner.
Total spend in 2018: $160*
Total return in 2018: $178*
*Based on $20 spend per selection and CrownBet’s top tote dividend.
What’s on this Saturday
Rosehill (NSW), Caulfield (VIC), Sunshine Coast (Queensland), Belmont (WA), Morphettville (SA), Darwin (NT).