Craig Williams had a handful of good rides for Hobart Cup day, but his manager had to find the right Cup ride for the champion jockey to make the trip.
Jason Breen set about doing the form and found Nick Ryan’s emerging stayer Suntora and Williams was immediately booking his plane tickets.
“I told I only wanted to go if I could win the Cup and he found this horse,” Williams said. “He is very good at finding the right horse in these races.
“We had four or five good rides, but if you go to these meetings you want to be competitive in the Cup.”
Suntora has a solid block of work behind her this summer and was at her best when winning by more than four lengths over 2000m at Caulfield last Saturday.
“She was pretty impressive winning at Caulfield, and even though it was only a benchmark 78, she’s improving all the time,” Williams said.
“Her form is very good. She won three races this preparation and I remember beating her on Sun Gift at Cranbourne.
“She has been down to Tassie before and won, which is a bonus and should get in with the right weight.”
There will be a number of mainland visitors for the Hobart Cup with Paddy and Michelle Payne sending Bold Soul, who will cap his preparation over 2000m at Caulfield on Saturday.
Williams has been covering plenty of miles in the past couple of weeks and was in Sydney on Tuesday to get another feel of weight-for-age star Sir Delius and Champions Mile runner-up Pericles at the barrier trials.
“Sir Delius feels fantastic and has done everything right,” Williams said. “It was devastating what happened in the spring [when Sir Delius failed the Melbourne Cup], but the way he feels, he is ready to go in the Autumn.”
At his last two starts, Sir Delius won the Underwood Stakes and Turnbull Stakes and is being aimed at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Williams can’t wait to get on Pericles in the Futurity Stakes after his third behind Golden Slipper winner Marhoona and the unbeaten Autumn Glow in a trial.
“He feels like he has gone to another level again, and I think he can get that group 1 this preparation,” Williams said.
“I think the 1400m will be perfectly first-up.”
