Champion jockey Craig Williams will link with Team Williams for just his second Albury Gold Cup appearance in 10 years on Friday week.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Over the last decade Williams has visited Albury just once for two rides on Albury Cup day in 2011.
Both mounts finished unplaced, including a fourth in the Albury Cup on the Lee Freedman-trained favourite Fanjura.
Williams is now riding regularly for leading owners Lloyd and Nick Williams and will fit in a trip to Albury amid a hectic schedule next week for the ride on the Robert Hickmott-trained Practiced in the $170,000 Commercial Club Albury Gold Cup (2000m).
Williams will fly in and out of Albury by helicopter with Nick Williams for his rides as he has to be back in Melbourne in time to ride at the William Reid Stakes meeting at Moonee Valley on Friday night.
Lloyd and Nick Williams have several horses set for the Albury Cup meeting as their Hudson Conway group is a major race sponsor of the carnival.
Somerset Rise, a new 425-lot Hudson Conway real estate development on Albury's outskirts at Thurgoona, is sponsoring the $50,000 Flatknacker on Albury Cup day and is offering a block of land as a prize for a lucky racegoer.
Practiced will be the second Albury Cup runner from the Williams' Macedon Lodge stable in three years. C'Est La Guerre finished fifth in 2011, ridden by Nicholas Hall.
A lightly-raced Encosta De Lago four-year-old, Practiced has recorded three wins and six placing from just 13 starts and has been ridden by Craig Williams in his last eight races.
Practiced's spring form included a Caulfield win over 2000m and placings in the Bendigo Cup (2400m) and Lavazza Long Black (2800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day before a spell.
He resumed with an excellent second to Auld Burns over 1700m at Caulfield on March 2.
Williams, who has ridden seven winners and nine placings from 27 rides on Hickmott-trained horses this season, has been riding in tremendous form.
He has ridden nine city winners in the last 10 days including four at Flemington last Saturday and a double on Monday's Adelaide Cup program at Morphettvile.
His schedule this month includes commuting from Melbourne for feature meetings in Sydney and a trip to Dubai for the World Cup meeting on March 30.
