Horse racing / The Early Crow / 13 November 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

The Early Crow

Prominent racehorse owner Lloyd Williams has two runners in Saturday's Sandown Classic at Betfair Park. The Betfair Early Crow thinks he's entitled to win the race, given his commitment to developing local stayers.

For Lloyd Williams, the 2009 Spring Carnival is one he'd probably prefer to forget. His star horse, Efficient looked well and truly on track for the Melbourne Cup after a sizzling win in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, a key spring lead-up event. And then his other stable favourite Zipping did something completely out of character when he sat down in the barriers before the Mackinnon Stakes on Derby Day.

That left the stable with just the one runner in the Cup, C'est la Guerre, which finished eighth after what has arguably been an indifferent campaign. C'est la Guerre is fast turning into one of those horses that hasn't lived up to expectations. But he will nevertheless join Zipping in the Sandown Classic at Betfair Park as team Williams prepares for a final crack at spring glory.
Zipping will create history if he can win the Group Two weight-for-age feature for a third successive year. And the eight-year-old has a pretty good chance. The long Betfair Park straight is right up his alley and missing a Melbourne Cup run might just give him a fresh edge at a course and distance where he thrives.
Zipping is a pretty generous price at 5.5 on the Betfair exchange, but if he gets back in the race as expected, the layers could well serve up some overs for Betfair's in-the-run punters.
The Williams stable has had an eventful week, with the departures of trainer John Sadler and jockey Steven Arnold. Williams has a reputation as a perfectionist and tough task master, so it's no surprise to see the high turnover of staff.
Robert Hickmott is attempting to train a Group Two winner in his first meeting as trainer for team Williams and he's got one of the best jockeys in the country, Michael Rodd, in the saddle on Zipping.
Zipping hasn't raced for three weeks since running third to So You Think in the Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley. If he can pull off a third victory in this race, it will be a well-deserved one for Lloyd Williams, one of the few owners in Australia committed to buying and developing staying talent.
Every year Williams targets the big spring staying races and he deserves to make history with a horse that always gives his best.
The stable is also running Tintern and Interlocking in the opening event, so it could be a big first day on the job for Robert Hickmott.