Melbourne Cup Odds: Williams Picks Cavalryman
October 30th, 2014 by Pom de TurfWe’re getting close enough now to the 2014 Melbourne Cup for most people you meet to be ready to give you their tips and predictions, and whilst you’re much more likely to put most of those generous tips out of your mind when you’re looking over those Racing odds for The Race That Stops A Nation, the wisdom of some pundits is always going to carry more weight than others. And there’s always the inside track from the folks who are going to be closest to the race itself – or even riding in it, like Craig Williams, who is tipping his ride Cavalryman to have a big say in the Cup…
Speaking to the press after a first hit-out on board the veteran English stayer, Williams was full of praise for the Godolphin prospect, and has set his sights on what would be a first Melbourne Cup win for him and for the Godolphin outfit: ‘we worked in conjunction with the stablemate, we made the running which is not ideal for my horse. The further I went the better I travelled. I was very happy with his work and what I asked him to do. He’s such a lovely laid back horse. It’s good to understand his mannerisms. It just helps when I start to assess the race when the barrier draws come out what we can and can’t do with him to have a good feel for him. I haven’t won a Melbourne Cup, neither has Sheikh Mohammed or Saeed bin Suroor. My good golfing friend Vaughan Somers always says records are there to be broken. For me, I hope it’s going to be that. Fields Of Omagh won the Cox Plate as a nine-year-old so the way that he (Cavalryman) is coming across to me is not as a nine-year-old. He’s in career-best form and he hasn’t had the racing like most of our Australian horses have as being nine years of age. And he’s got very, very solid two mile (3200m) form. They (Godolphin) are definitely desperate. Everyone wants to win the Melbourne Cup. Sheik Mohammed and Godolphin have won the biggest races around the world. The Melbourne Cup eludes them at this stage. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to win in the blue colours, especially when Godolpin races here in Australia, they’re part of Emirates who sponsor the Melbourne Cup. It would be my first, their first and I’m sure the sponsors would be happy.’
To say they would be happy hints at a talent for understatement on Williams’ part, but he’s probably not understating the talent and the bravery of veteran stayer Cavalryman, who’s going to be a feature in the Racing odds for the Cup, and who could be a horse who has a real say in the race, too…
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