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Craig Williams |
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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What a GREAT rider. Chalked up the first 3 at Flemington today.
So patient , professional . Best in the Business. |
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Prince of Penzance
Champion Joined: 17 Jan 2018 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 1938 |
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I’ve backed him on a couple of other rides later in the day so I reckon he could ride 6
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Prince of Penzance
Champion Joined: 17 Jan 2018 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 1938 |
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6 winners today
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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That would please those critics. Who have gone underground. |
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Carioca
Champion Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21820 |
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Not me lol,....rocks or diamonds with this bloke. |
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Carioca
Champion Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21820 |
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Having cheekingly said that, it was a great effort all the same. |
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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Not a lot of applause for the best riding performance ever seen in Melbourne .
Craig Williams the only one to have achieved such a feat. GREAT STUFF & deserved . He is one of our best ever. NSW had similar performance at Rosehill some years ago but I won't mention the R-zoles name. |
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Sneck
Champion Joined: 16 Feb 2013 Location: Payout Queue Status: Offline Points: 7555 |
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One swallow does not make a summer. I really do not rate him as an elite jockey but he is riding well as the season comes to a close. I guess he is the best jockey in melbourne but it is a weak bunch.
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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Who would we say is / was an elite rider. Like everything in life , the cycles don't allow the same percentages every week. . Fortunes fall both ways as Kementari found in the last Epsom. Williams was elite on Saturday , It has never been done before. |
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acacia alba
Champion Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Status: Offline Points: 41457 |
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Frankie rode 6, or more ?? once in the UK. Does that make him, or do we consider him, an elite rider ?? What exactly is an elite rider ?
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animals before people.
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Sneck
Champion Joined: 16 Feb 2013 Location: Payout Queue Status: Offline Points: 7555 |
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1. Zac Purton 2. Hugh Bowman 3. James McDonald 4. Blake Shinn The top three are elite riders, Shinn is close but just falls short at present.
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VOYAGER
Champion Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 18736 |
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What is an elite rider? Great question
This is also subjective. Punters consider jockeys with good percentages, elite riders, some think longevity at the top is a elite rider and some think that riders who win when the money is on are elite riders. I have always considered elite riders riders who can win anywhere, riders which trainers seek out for the big races on a consistent basis, riders who are versatile in their riding style, so they can ride front runners and swoopers, and riders who can win on odds on favs and long shots. The best three I have seen in the last 30 years are Mick Dittman, Darren Beadman and Damien Oliver. Cassidy, Cooksley, Dye, Munce and Brian York are close up behind them. Of the current crop Bowman is the stand out, McEvoy is second, MacDonald is third and Shinn is next, but his consistency is not great. I would also give a special mention to Micheal Walker. He reminds me a lot of Jim Cassidy, but he does not get anywhere near the opportunities from trainers other than Hayes. He does get rides for the Redoutes and Criterion owners, but they are not prolific owners of group quality gallopers. Of the young up and comers Damien Lane is heading in the right direction, Melham is coming on and Regan Bayliss has hooked up with Hayes and that can be to his benefit. So for me it is Bowman, McEvoy, McDonald and Shinn, with a top of my hat to Walker. |
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Remember, it might take intelligence to be smart , but it takes experience to be wise
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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There is a lot of good riders about ... I go back to Moore ( the master )as best in my day but we do have great talent in the riding ranks.
I agree with all mentioned but quite a lot rate up there as very good. We are too quick to blame them when the Racing Gods aren't good to them ( I felt for Avdulla ) when Kemintari ran into several dead ends last start while Clapper was given the dream rails runs. They all need the lucky breaks and Saturday , Williams was patient in the windy conditions and showed just how good he is. |
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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Craig's run continues , I think he is up to about 11 for the week .
Nice to have him on a fav when you back it , at least you know it is trying it's innards out. |
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Prince of Penzance
Champion Joined: 17 Jan 2018 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 1938 |
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I’ve backed him on every mount since he won his first on Saturday.
Been a good week |
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Straight Connector
Champion Joined: 27 Aug 2015 Location: Sydney Status: Offline Points: 1702 |
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This is incredible...
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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The way the world is you can soon pick the riders who aren't texting during the race. I wonder how many leave their mobiles in the jockeys room during a race. ---- He is a top rider , Noted him finding the fast lane outside in 2 early ones at sale today... He has given me an early shower again. |
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Prince of Penzance
Champion Joined: 17 Jan 2018 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 1938 |
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As I’ve said it before, I wish he would ride like this every week.
Every June/July is the time you wanna back his mounts. |
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Sneck
Champion Joined: 16 Feb 2013 Location: Payout Queue Status: Offline Points: 7555 |
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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12 winners in the City over the past 2 weeks and 4 wins from 4 rides at Sale today.
He has certainly learnt a lot since the "baggers" got after him on TBV a while back. We certainly educate them from our armchairs in the stands. |
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hatch
Champion Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Status: Offline Points: 6360 |
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The = baggers = do them a favour ,always go better after being bagged ,Melbourne cup winners afterwards .
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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( Special hello Hatch ) . I thought you must have eloped with some lucky Punter. I still pray regularly ( depending on how many I have in photo Finishes ) and I work hard to convert PT. |
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hatch
Champion Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Status: Offline Points: 6360 |
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Good on you Max , I think you are a good man.
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Phantom
Champion Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Location: At The Races! Status: Offline Points: 4786 |
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If anyone has the stats or has time to do the stats, can you work out his strike rate for riding winners in the last race of the day. I have a mate who for years will only ever back him in the last race every Saturday and seems to win often enough to encourage his random betting trend.
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The More You Put On, The More You Get Back
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maccamax
Champion Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Status: Offline Points: 41473 |
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We get some "whacky" Systems . That one rates highly. Your friend has one good thing going for him = He only gets ONE bet a day at best. |
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Prince of Penzance
Champion Joined: 17 Jan 2018 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 1938 |
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Pulling the pin on his season as of this weekend.
Heads off to see his wife and kids whom are holidaying overseas. Has declared the premiership race over, leads by 10 at the minute. |
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Phantom
Champion Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Location: At The Races! Status: Offline Points: 4786 |
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Agree and today willow strikes again. One winner and its in the last race |
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The More You Put On, The More You Get Back
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Shawy38
Champion Joined: 13 Jun 2015 Status: Offline Points: 17382 |
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Craig Williams (Volcanic Rock) was found guilty of a charge of careless riding under the provisions of AR131(a), the careless riding being that approaching the 1400 metres, he permitted his mount to shift out when not sufficiently clear of Skyt, thereby making contact with that gelding, taking it out off its course for several strides, resulting in it clipping the heels of Volcanic Rock and losing ground. Craig Williams' licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 17 race meetings, the starting date of which is to be confirmed tomorrow due to the lateness of the conclusion of the inquiry. In assessing penalty, Stewards took into account Craig Williams' record, his evidence regarding his mount's racing manners leading up to and during the incident and deemed the incident to be in the high range.
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Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing
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Gay3
Moderator Group Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 51993 |
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MOST MEN SPEND THEIR LIVES RUNNING FROM PROBLEMS – CRAIG WILLIAMS PREFERS TO CHASE SOLUTIONS EVEN IF IT IS LIFE THREATENING IN this wonderful article by ADAM PENGILLY, the FAIRFAX MEDIA journalist explains how champion jockey CRAIG WILLIAMS has found his purpose in life and is on a mission to raise millions for war-torn UKRAINE. An innocent voice breaks the silence. “This is what we have to do when the siren sounds, Nan,” the eight-year-old girl whispers. Watching on, an Australian man next to her drops his head. “I just broke down,” says jockey Craig Williams. “My children get disappointed if the internet drops out or if it’s going to rain tomorrow … and this eight-year-old child was explaining to her Nan what she has to do in an air raid siren in the hope she’s going to live.” Most men can spend their life running from the problems that follow them. Others prefer to spend their life chasing solutions to the problems of others – even if it means endangering their own lives. Inside that bunker, Williams realised he had a new purpose in life. For more than a year, Williams, one of the country’s most well-paid athletes as a winner of the Melbourne Cup and The Everest, his Ukrainian-born wife Larysa and a team of assistants has been making clandestine trips to the country to provide urgent medical equipment, supplies and other aid to troops and civilians on the front line. His last visit was only a few months ago. In 14 days, Williams had to scramble into a war bunker 14 times. How did he end up there? On a balmy Melbourne night in early 2022, Williams and Larysa wandered into Melbourne’s Federation Square to show support for Larysa’s homeland after war broke out in eastern Europe. It might have been enough for most people. But Williams is not like most people. The idea began small. “When I started to ask about trauma kits, I thought I would go down to Chemist Warehouse and see what they could do,” Williams says. That was before he knew what was really needed. His adviser and security detail, Tim, sent a 26-page email which explained what is actually required for trauma kits: Israeli bandages, QuikClot, tourniquets, staples, staple guns and the like. “We’re not talking about paper cuts, band-aids or blistex,” Williams says. “They don’t have 26 minutes to stitch people up on the front line. It opened our eyes to something a lot different to what we’ve ever had to deal with.” He spoke to his accountant about raising money for Ukraine, who said donations should be made through the jockey’s own website. Williams was told $50,000 would be a good fundraising target. He was interviewed on breakfast television the next day, having wrestled with the idea of making his charity efforts public. “And I said $100,000,” Williams laughs. “I always like to aim high.” The tally now stands at more than $2.2 million. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without predominantly the support of the thoroughbred racing industry, but we get donations from pensioners who send $13 or $25 every two weeks,” Williams says. “The worst part is I don’t have an email to thank them, or I can’t walk up to them in the street.” But those on the streets of Ukraine thank him. It’s hard to comprehend what goes through someone’s mind when they enter a country at war for the first time. Williams’ maiden visit last year involved crossing the border through Poland in the dead of night, and dropping supplies to civilian fighters. “You went 400 metres to the Ukrainian side, and you think, ‘Oh my goodness’,” Williams says. “You could feel the difference. Young men and women, old men and women, they have automatic guns – and they’re out. You could feel the heaviness in the air, the enormity of war, and a next door neighbour not at war. “But I wasn’t scared.” Each time Williams has seen the horrors of war: blood-stained and burnt out school buses and civilian vehicles riddled with bullet holes; the ruins of apartment buildings; guns pointed at his vehicle as his convoy approach checkpoints at each village or town; the sheer terror of air raid warnings; children left with nothing other than what’s in a plastic bag. Then there is the inevitable. At Bucha, a town 25 minutes outside of Kyiv, a grave site is behind the local church. The area was captured by the advancing Russians for about two months. The local priest asked enemy forces if he could at least take the estimated 400 Ukrainian bodies off the streets to be buried in a makeshift cemetery behind the church. Almost half of them couldn’t be identified. “Then you realise during this particular war, the Russian Federation’s reach is the whole of Ukraine,” Williams says. “Everyone’s a target.” The main recipients of Williams’ charity, which now includes a partnership with Rotary Australia, is a particular Ukrainian fighter group. Williams met the organisation’s leader on one visit. A couple of months later, Williams was told the leader had been killed during fighting. The man’s mother had already been displaced and had moved to Australia, and when Williams learned about this through social media, spoke with Larysa. She agreed to chaperone the woman back to Ukraine to bury her son, who could barely be identified due to his horrific injuries. The mother’s birthday is this Sunday. “There’s nothing more traumatic than burying a child,” Williams says. “It was the right thing for us to do.” Since then, due to the enormous money raised, Williams and his crew have been able to buy four vehicles in Poland which have been repurposed as ambulances. They’ve also progressed to generators, which are used to power mobile hospitals, bakeries and showers, so as not to be permanent targets for the Russians. But still those closest to him worry. Williams’ father, ex-jockey Allan, sat him down a few months ago for a conversation he’d been thinking about for a while. “Do you have to keep going to Ukraine?” “I have to go,” Craig said. “I don’t have a choice.” Williams pauses. “You’re contributing to saving someone’s life,” he says. “Why is anyone’s life more important than mine?” On Saturday, Williams will try to win the $20 million The Everest for the second straight year, where he could change more lives. He will ride Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Alcohol Free, the last horse selected in the race. In 2022, he thundered to victory on Giga Kick, who was installed as the early favourite for this year’s race before a first-up defeat in the McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley last month. Williams was savaged by Rod Douglas, the racing manager for billionaire owner Jonathan Munz, for his ride on the horse, with Douglas saying he wanted to “strangle him” for his piloting errors. Williams lost the ride. It was later found Giga Kick had injured himself in the race and would miss The Everest anyway. He was leaving the races shortly after the news broke when Larysa turned to him. “At least you’re driving me home,” she said. Before riding Alcohol Free – an apt name, he says, given he doesn’t drink – Williams will pull on his breeches with a blue and white love heart as a nod to Ukraine on them. He will look in his form guide, where he always scribbles down a few notes. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to be brave. You’ve got to be determined like Ukrainians. “If they don’t win this race, they don’t exist,” Williams says. “Their race is very simple. We have a choice here. “And it’s made me be a better human, which makes me a better husband, a better father and a better jockey. It gives me perspective. “I lived in a bubble, and unfortunately, it got burst 18 months ago. I realised my bubble is not reality for most people. If we can save one person’s life, it’s a great thing. The fact we can save many peoples’ lives, it makes it very special and more fulfilling.” |
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Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!
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Sister Dot
Premium Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Status: Offline Points: 4941 |
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It’s not very often these days we see a man of his calibre. It feels good to have someone to truly admire in our rather selfish world.
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“Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined”
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