Country’s top jockeys to ride in Rockhampton’s $1M The Archer
Craig Williams headlines the star field of jockeys who will ride in regional Qld’s richest race this weekend. See which other hoops will be chasing the rich prize purse at Callaghan Park.
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The final pack of “jockey cards” has been tabled for Sunday’s $1M The Archer (1300m) to be run at Rockhampton’s Callaghan Park racecourse and they include an abundance of aces.
No fewer than 10 of the first-class line-up of a dozen jockeys riding in The Archer are the recipients of Group 1 wins.
Topping the list is Craig Williams - fresh back from a flying, albeit a winning visit to Hong Kong races last Sunday - who has ridden 82 Group I winners.
The ultra-popular Williams rides Tony Gollan-trained Comrade Rosa in The Archer but racegoers at Callaghan Park will see him in action earlier on the Toby Edmonds/Stephen McLean Gold Coast-trained Show Some Decorum in the $75K The Fitzroy (1300m).
Other Gr 1 winning rides in The Archer and their mounts are as follows: Nash Rawiller 71 (Sandpaper – Bjorn Baker); Josh Parr 13 (Rustic Steel -Kris Lees); Chad Schofield six (Cosmo Centaurus - Robert Heathcote); Ryan Maloney five (Transatlantic – Tony Gollan); Jake Bayliss three (Lubrication – Matthew Dunn); Damien Thornton two (Space Tracker IRE - Annabell Neasham/Rob Archibald); while Ash Morgan (Iowna Merc – Bjorn Baker), Kyle Wilson-Taylor (Swiss Exile – Annabell Neasham/Rob Archibald) and Nekita Berriman (Winston Smurfhill NZ - Natalie McCall) have all ridden an individual GR 1 winner.
The remaining two jockeys with engagements in The Archer are three-time Rockhampton Cup-winning hoop Les ‘’Bubba” Tilley (It’sourtime – Pat Webster) and apprentice Emily Lang, who leads the Brisbane jockeys’ premiership (Hell – Nick Walsh).
Between them, Tilley, who only started race riding in 2012 and Lang in 2022, have ridden 1006 winners so they certainly won’t be out of place in The Archer.
It all adds up for racegoers flocking to Callaghan Park for Rockhampton’s biggest race meeting of the year on Sunday, getting the rare opportunity to see some of Australia’s best jockeys in action.
Top-weight for The Archer is Baker’s Iowna Merc with 58.5kg ahead of now Toowoomba-trained outstanding Melbournite It’sourtime allocated 58kg.
Kris Lees’ Novacastrian (Newcastle) trained Rustic Steel, the only multi-millionaire prize money earner in the field, is next in line at the weights with 57.5kg, an impost shared by Sandpaper.
The Nick Walsh-trained Hell, the sole locally trained Callaghan Park starter in The Archer, comes in with 55.5kg which will play into the speedster’s favour.
However, the talented sprinter faces a massive class rise while being certain to give his supporters a genuine run for their money.
The Archer carries a $565,000 purse to the winner, with all starters paid five-figure amounts down to last or 12th ( $10,000).
The co-feature race, The Fitzroy, has attracted a full field of 16, and with runners from far afield is certainly worthy of the status it has been given by The Rocky Amateurs.
Apart from Williams (Show Some Decorum – barrier 5), visiting jockeys Chad Schofield from Sydney rides Clinton Taylor’s Kathy’s Beau while the Sunshine Coast’s Nekita Berriman has taken the mount on Caloundra trainer Darryl Hansen’s Demon Award.
The minor races on Sunday’s historic nine-race program have attracted a response of 81 entries.
Fields will be published after noon on Thursday as the hype around the fourth running of The Archer, the richest race in the history of Rockhampton and regional Queensland racing, continues to gather unprecedented momentum.
Why wouldn’t it?
A million-dollar race in Rockhampton - take a bow the hierarchy of the once-a-year race club, the Rocky Amateurs.
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