Racing’s Quiet Man Full Of Surprises

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32120, 16 October 1969, Page 4

Racing’s Quiet Man Full Of Surprises

(Specially written for “The Press' by the former English jockey, HARRY CARR)

W. Williamson, the quiet man of racing, has a habit of giving us all a gentle nudge from time to time.

Last year, he did it by winning the Arc de Triomphe on Vaguely Noble. This year, he did it again on the 51-1 outsider, Levmoss.

And so, not for the first time, we were left discussing just how good the Australian really is. Certainly Piggott does not appear to have any doubts.

Talking to the Jockey Club Senior Steward, General Sir Randle Feilden, Piggott described Williamson as the best jockey in the world. Now, coming from Piggott, a man not given to flowery compliments, that really was a tremendous testimoniaL And S. McGrath, owner-breeder-trainer of Levmoss is, not surprisingly, another admirer.

“I brought Bilj over from Australia in the first place,” he said after the Arc. “He is the best jockey who has ever ridden for me, and that includes Lester.”

None of this surprises me unduly, I have always looked on Williamson as a great horseman and a great jockey. At Longchamps on Sunday, he took Levfnoss the short way home and gave him the easiest trip.

He was always lying handy, k r , a S Wng the early leaders, Blakeney and Bonconte di Montefeltro, on the rails. And when these two came away from the rails in the straight he instanly shot Levmoss into what was to prove an unassailable lead.

Afterwards, he said: “We were going so well at the halfway stage that 1 was convinced we’d win.”

Piggott, who had been waiting, poised on Park Top, was momentarily caught unawares. Nevertheless he was fairly eating up the ground in the final furlong and with another 50 yards the race would almost surely have been his. He was the first to admit that the fault was his. “I blame myself entirely,” he said. “I should have won.”

My own feeling about all this was that both Piggott and G. Lewis were taking a pretty desperate gamble by lying so far back in such a big field. There is always the danger of being held up at the vital moment, of having to go wide.

and while this is happening, there can be some unconsidered fellow, such as Levmoss, starting his run for home. Piggott had seemingly read the race pretty accurately as far as his main betting rivals were concerned. It was the sudden challenge from an unexpected source that up-ended his plans. PLEASANT CHANGB

Still, it is a pleasant change to hear a top sportsman admit he could have been wrong. By and large, it Is only the true professional, the ones with nothing left to prove, who do that.

Piggott afterwards described Park Top as "the best horse in the world at this moment," and he may be right, although the Americans have some pretty outstanding horses, too, as I belive we will all discover at the Washington International Williamson Is very much my kind of jockey, the kind I admire above all others. He is never unduly hard on his horses, never demonstrative In either manner or style and, like all the really good ones, he makes it all look so easy. Levmoss may not be the best horse around, but he could be the most remarkable one. To win the Ascot Gold Cup over two miles and a half and then follow that up with tha Arc over the mile and a half is a tremendous feat.

In 1959, Alcide was just beaten by Wallaby II In the Gold Cup and then went on to win the King George VI Stakes but, just the same, it is a very rare thing.