It will be a first for globe-trotting, gun jockey Craig Williams when he walks into the Callaghan Park entrance for the Rockhampton Turf Club’s $1 million The Archer race-day this Sunday.
“I haven’t ridden in Rockhampton before,” offered Williams who, only last Sunday was in action in Hong Kong where he came away with a winner.
“The opportunity to ride in The Archer was given to me by Tony Gollan and the Huddys” … the trainer and majority owners respectively of Williams’ big race mount Comrade Rosa.
Williams’ expertise will be called upon very early in the piece as Comrade Rosa was not the best away when she resumed last time and the extreme outside draw (twelve out of twelve) can also complicate matters.
Just how well Williams gets her to jump and what call he makes in terms of where to try and position Comrade Rosa in the early part of the race could be pivotal to her chance of success.
Comrade Rosa is one of two Tony Gollan trained horses in the race with the stablemate Transatlantic, who will be ridden by Regan Bayliss, the more fancied of the two in the betting.
Whereas Comrade Rosa has not won since November 2023, Transatlantic comes into The Archer bidding for a hat trick of wins. Weighed against that positive though is the fact that Transatlantic is first-up here after a four month break away from race action … and he has yet to win first-up.
Whatever the pros and cons of these two runners, a Gollan trained pairing in any race is always well worth a second glance … and it is no different here in the puzzle posed by The Archer.
