Williams: Buckaroo has the best form in the Melbourne Cup

Craig Williams still had a couple of Melbourne Cup options in front of him up until Wednesday morning.

The 2019 winner aboard Vow And Declare was booked on early Cup favourite Sir Delius but after that horse was scratched from the spring he was forced to look elsewhere.

“Two weeks ago when Sir Delius didn’t meet the criteria to be suitable to race in the Spring Carnival it was really devastating,” Williams admitted on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.

“But for me I was lucky. I remember getting a message from Gai (Waterhouse), ‘Craig, you’re going to have to find a ride in the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup now. But the horse is ok which is the most important thing’.”

Now he will ride Buckaroo after it was confirmed the Chris Waller horse would run in the Melbourne Cup.

Speaking prior to that confirmation, Williams was already bullish about the seven year-old’s chances.

“He’s definitely got the class, there’s no doubt,” Williams said.

“Not probably - he has the best form in the race - and now goes to a handicap over two miles.

“He’s definitely a really good horse. There’s no doubt Buckaroo is the best credentialed horse in the race.”

Buckaroo was ridden by Joao Moreira in last year’s Cup, finishing ninth after starting as the $6 favourite.

He has had a strong preparation without winning having run third in the Group 1 Memsie (1400m), second to Sir Delius in the G1 Underwood (1800m), third in the G1 Might And Power (2000m) and runner-up in the Cox Plate (2040m) behind Via Sistina.

‘Willo’ admits he did chase a few Cup rides after the Caulfield Cup but ultimately missed out.

Could this give punters some sort of guide as to which horses to follow?

“I chased the French horse (Presage Nocturne) after the Caulfield Cup but they’re keeping the same jockey on (Stephane Pasquier),” the gun hoop said further.

“I chased the English horse Meydaan because I thought Flemington might suit.

“I thought Ozzie Kheir’s other horse that Jye McNeil was successful on (in the Bart Cummings), Valiant King, was good.

“The winner (Half Yours) was good but he gets a two kilo penalty - I’m not questioning that because the handicapper usually does his job really well.”

Williams rode Onesmoothoperator in last year's Cup following his dominant Geelong Cup triumph, but he won't be with the Brian Ellison raider this time around.

He says jockeys sometimes begin their Cup search almost 12 months out.

“Onesmoothoperator who I rode last year. Remembering that when he turned up he didn’t pass two of the vets until the last vet. He was not in the same form as when he won the Geelong Cup, and he was still only beaten four and a bit lengths.

“That’s what we start looking at to try and find the next one (a year out).”

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