Racing: Nothing left to chance for $1m

Sell In May was ridden by Steven Baster in her winning debut at Flemington last month. Ben Melham will ride the filly tomorrow. Photo / Getty Images

Sell In May was ridden by Steven Baster in her winning debut at Flemington last month. Ben Melham will ride the filly tomorrow. Picture / Getty Images

There is nothing about the opposition that champion jockey Williams won't know

You ask Lee Freedman if he's done the form on the opposition to Ockham's Razor in tomorrow's $1 million Karaka Million at Ellerslie.

"Don't need to," he says, "my rider will have done it all."

Meet Craig Williams, form student extraordinaire.

Williams is regarded as the best jockey in Australia and it doesn't just come down to riding talent.

He and manager Mark Guest pride themselves there is nothing about any opposition horse they don't know when a horse ridden by Williams heads to the barrier.

It wins them races they might otherwise finish second or third in.

"If a horse in Sunday's race lugs slightly to the rail in running each time, or one goes too keenly even when the pace is on or if one traditionally does something unusual, Craig will know about it," says Freedman. "He's a freak."

Some of that comes down to Mark Guest, who can talk almost as well as the jockey he manages and who, similarly, plays down the homework angle. Guest has managed Williams since the rider returned from Hong Kong seven years ago.

"Craig has ridden 31 group ones and I've been involved for 28 of them," said Guest yesterday.

"It comes down to confidence a lot of times," said Williams. "You get into a race and it's like you know what's going on around you."

Despite all the planning, things can go wrong, as Williams found out in November.

He was on track to become the first jockey to ride the winners of the Cox Plate and Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in the one year when he copped a suspension after completing the first two.

And guess what, of course his Melbourne Cup mount was the winner, French-trained Dunaden.

Instead of going to Flemington Williams went to the movies with his children to see Hugh Jackson's Real Steel, learning of the Cup result via a txt message.

"It didn't really worry me not winning the Cup," which if true makes him more of a freak than he knows.

There would be at least the smallest amount of untruth in that because six weeks later when Williams got on Dunaden's back the next time and won the Hong Kong Vase, he rated it one of the most satisfying wins of his career.

Just to keep the record looking good, Williams rode a group one juvenile winner in Japan a week later.

Two-year-old mid-season races for a million dollars-plus can be harem-scarem events. Even one step in the wrong direction can end up costing connections $300,000 to $500,000.

Eliminating as many risk factors in that direction is a huge advantage.

"Craig doesn't leave anything to chance," says Mark Guest.

Remember that when you're heading to the betting window around 7pm tomorrow.

Ockham's Razor might have had only one raceday start and was beaten into second in it, but it was a strong field and he was impressive after an uncharacteristic slow beginning. The photo the Weekend Herald was scheduled to take of Ockham's Razor mid-afternoon yesterday at Murray Baker's Cambridge stable was cancelled by Lee Freedman when the weather turned wet and surprisingly cold.

"It's too cold to bring him out and take his rug off," said Freedman.

For a million dollars he was leaving nothing to chance.

Neither will Craig Williams.