Craig Williams (born 23 May 1977) is a

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

based

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. He has won multiple

group one Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

races in Australia and worldwide, including the 2019

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

. Williams rode his first race in 1993. In 2011, he almost achieved a unique Australian

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

triple, in winning the Caulfield Cup,

Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...

and

. After winning the first two on Southern Speed and Pinker Pinker respectively, Williams was suspended for careless riding during the 2011 Bendigo Cup. The horse he was scheduled to ride in the Melbourne Cup,

Dunaden Dunaden (26 February 2006 – 30 April 2019) was a French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2011 Melbourne Cup, ridden by Christophe Lemaire, trained by Mikel Delzangles. The horse was owned by Sheikh Fahad al Thani and managed by Davi ...

, went on to win with last-minute replacement jockey Christophe Lemaire on board. In the 2012 Caulfield Cup, Williams rode Dunaden to an unprecedented victory. A few days before the race Dunaden had drawn the outside barrier (barrier 22, although after scratchings it became barrier 18), and was also the top weighted horse for the race, carrying 58 kg. Dunaden had subsequently drifted in the

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...

odds Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. Odds also have ...

, as no horse had ever won the Caulfield Cup from wider than barrier 15, nor carrying top weight. The win also made it back-to-back Caulfield Cup victories for Williams. In 2019, Williams rode

Vow and Declare Vow And Declare (foaled 17 October 2015) is an Australian bred thoroughbred racehorse that was the winner of the 2019 Melbourne Cup. Background Vow And Declare was bred by Paul Lanskey, the owner of the broodmare, Geblitzt. Declaration of Wa ...

to win the

in his 15th start in the race. As of early July 2021, Williams has ridden 1,939 winners, including 61 Group One winners. He has won the

Scobie Breasley Medal The Scobie Breasley Medal is an annual Jockeys award, first presented by Racing Victoria Limited in 1996, that recognises excellence in race riding on Melbourne racetracks. Votes are cast by racing stewards at each meeting and are awarded on a 3-2- ...

five times: in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2017.

References

External links

*Jockey profil
racingvictoria.netracingandsports.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Craig 1977 births Living people Australian jockeys