Craig stakes claim for seventh heaven

JOCKEY Craig Williams says early groundwork is the key to him shooting for a seventh Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes win on Behemoth at Caulfield on Saturday.

Williams has won the race six times since 2005, including last year on the David Jolly-trained Behemoth.

Damien Oliver has also ridden six Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes winners, starting with Submariner in 1990. His latest was Orange County in 2008.

Williams won the race on Barely A Moment and Rewaaya in 2005 and 2006 respectively, before steering Response to victory in 2010.

The champion jockey followed up in 2011 on Toorak Toff, before getting home on Stratum Star in 2014.

Having been run for 43 years, the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes is a special race for the Williams family.

“It has been a very lucky race for my family,” Williams said. “My father [Alan] won it as a jockey and then as a trainer. Ever since I was a rider, it has been a very lucky race for me.”

Williams said his managers laid the foundations to his success in the race well before he is legged aboard his Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes mounts.

He said the trend of the race has changed from looking for lightly-rated horses on the way up to sticking with the top-ranked horses in best at the weights.

“In the past, the task for my manager was to find the right-rated horse and right-weighted horse,” Williams said.

“We’ve been very lucky and obviously there has been a lot of hard work gone into identifying these horses.

“There is a changing trend and Saturday could be the same with the two top-rated horses again.”

He said he was happy to be back on Behemoth after Brett Prebble won the Memsie Stakes on him.