Dubai: Australia's Craig Williams, who is no stranger to riding winners in Dubai, rolled back the years to bag the Meydan Masters International Jockeys Championship with a sparkling exhibition of horsemanship at Meydan racecourse yesterday.
Williams, 34, was in top form yesterday booting home Graymalkin to win the third leg of the competition before narrowly being denied a second success when his mount Angel's Pursuit was beaten a short head in the final race.
However, those performances were good enough to give him victory in the 12 jockey competition with a winning score of 110 points.
Irish rider Colm O'Donoghue, who won the opening race on Thursday aboard Erwan Charpy's Furnace, finished runner-up with 96 points, while Japan's Kenichi Ikezoe finished third after landing the third leg of the competition aboard Ali Rashid Al Raihe's Street Act.
Williams was based in the UAE during the 2001-2002 season as stable jockey to Australian handler John Sadler during which time he rode 12 winners including a memorable win aboard Glad Master in the 2002 Al Shindagha Sprint.
"I was really thrilled to have been invited to represent Australia in the Meydan Masters, but to come here and win it is absolutely fantastic," said Williams.
"It's been fantastic, and I'd like to thank the Dubai Racing Club and Meydan for putting on such a great show.
Denied victory
"This is a great facility, a great stage for racing and its always been such a pleasure to ride in Dubai. I absolutely love it out here."
Williams, who has ridden multiple Group 1 winners in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, was denied victory in one of the world's greatest races, the Melbourne Cup when he picked up a riding ban prior to the race last November.
Dunaden, the horse that he was booked to partner went on to win the Australian showpiece under French jockey Christophe Lemaire, who finished fourth in the Meydan Masters.
However, Williams gained some compensation when he teamed up with Dunaden to win the prestigious $1.8 million (Dh6.6 million) Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December.
The Meydan Masters was the feature event of the second day of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which kicked-off on Thursday evening and culminates in the Dubai World Cup meeting on March 31.
Yesterday's honours were shared by locally based trainers Satish Seemar and Mubarak Bin Shafya, who saddled two winners each.
Seemar got off the blocks the faster of the two, to win the opening Longines Docle Vita Collection Maiden Stakes over 1200m on the All Weather with Sand Stamp, who was notching the first win of his career in only his second start. Richard Mullen was aboard the winner.
