Craig Williams produced a Caulfield Cup ride to remember aboard Dunaden but deflected most of the praise to the horse.
“He’s a great horse,” Williams said after he guided the international raider to a thrilling victory from the outside barrier in the $2.5 million feature.
“I’ve been really lucky. We seem to have a great affinity together.
“He’s been a fantastic horse for my career.”
Williams, who has ridden successfully all over the world, missed out on a place in history last year when suspension robbed him of the ride on Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup after the pair’s Geelong Cup win.
The jockey had already set the 2011 Melbourne spring carnival alight with victories in two of the majors – the Caulfield Cup on Southern Speed and the Cox Plate on Pinker Pinker.
Williams was at the movies when Christophe Lemaire partnered Dunaden to a heart-stopping Melbourne Cup win.
While the Melbourne Cup eluded Williams last year, his association with Dunaden still blossomed to include victory on the world stage in the Group One Hong Kong Vase (2400m) last December and again in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup.
He said the feeling of winning the race for a second straight year was just as good as his first.
“Winning it the first time drives you because you want to win your second,” Williams said.
“Because that feeling is amazing and you want to feel that again. That’s what this time of year does. Especially one of the top three (Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup) and on that horse. That horse (Dunaden) is special to me.”
Williams, who has ridden in 13 different countries during his career, produced a tactically-perfect ride on Dunaden from the outside barrier.
He snagged him back at the start, was on the rail after a couple of hundred metres and bided his time before setting sail in clear running in the straight.
“I was confident in the horse’s ability, but we just had a tricky draw,” he said.
