It did not take long for Craig Williams to get over the disappointment of losing the ride on Spanish Mission in the Caulfield Cup having picked up the mount on Nonconformist.
Williams received a text message on Thursday morning that Spanish Mission’s trip to Melbourne for the Caulfield Cup was off and quickly got on the front foot to chase the ride on Noncomformist.
The Grahame Begg-trained gelding won the Group 3 MRC Foundation Cup (2000m) at Caulfield last Saturday and is exempt from the ballot.
Noncomformist was ridden to victory last Saturday by Jordan Childs, but with 51.5kg in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 16 that is below his weight range.
Williams said his manager Jason Breen had identified Nonconformist as the ideal mount.
“Because we had already taken a ride, we weren’t really worrying about anything else,” Williams said.
“And he said the horse did not receive a penalty for winning the other day and has still got 51.5 kilos.
“It’s far too light for a lot of jockeys, especially Jordan, so he made the call because we had notified everyone else that we had a confirmed booking in the race.”
Williams said Nonconformist had a great profile and a good Caulfield horse having won three races at the track and has only 51.5kg in the Cup.
“He’s in winning form, he’s won one of the major lead-up races, which many horses, including Jameeka have come through,” Williams said.
“Jameeka got penalised, so I’m glad he (Nonconformist) didn’t get penalised now that I’m riding him.”
Williams said getting down to 51.5kg should not pose a problem after Spanish Mission had 57kg in the Caulfield Cup 2021.
“We plan to ride light through the autumn and spring anyway,” Williams said.
“It’s now that my wife comes into work as my dietician.”
Williams still has a booking for Spanish Mission in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 2 with the stayer due into Melbourne with the second shipment of horses on October 9.