A winning treble in the final three races at Sandown has moved Craig Williams to within four of the premiership lead.
Williams got on the board at Wednesday’s meeting in the sixth race on promising three-year-old Popovich before adding wins on Egypt and Bascule to close out the meeting in style.
It moved Williams to 32 metropolitan wins for the season, four behind leader Dwayne Dunn and one behind second-placed Damien Oliver.
The three high-profile jockeys fought out a thrilling premiership battle last season with Oliver edging out Williams by two with Dunn another win behind.
Mark Zahra kept in touch with the top three with a winning double at Sandown on first starter Charlevoix and Tears Of Joy.
It took his season tally in town to 30 with just under half the season remaining.
