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By Ray Hickson

Champion jockey Craig Williams loves his association with superstar mare and TAB Everest winner Bella Nipotina and he’s hoping to carve out a bit more history with her at Rosehill on Saturday.

Jockey Craig Williams (Pic: Steve Hart).

The seven-year-old became the first mare to win the TAB Everest two weeks ago, and gave Ciaron Maher his first winner of the $20 million sprint, and a win in the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) will put her second among the top prizemoney earners in Australia.

Williams, who first rode Bella Nipotina back in June 2021, said the mare is a marvel and a testament to the work of Maher’s team.

“She’s a seven-year-old and she’s never been in the form she’s been in the last 12 months,’’ Williams said.

“Most horses, most people, most things, don’t get bigger and stronger and better but she has at that age.

“She’s phenomenal, a credit to Ciaron Maher and his stable and the owners for allowing Ciaron to do what he needed to do with her.

“I’ve never been more confident riding her. We can have all the plans and preparation but she was right on for the Everest, she just did everything so well.

“If she was a football player you’d say she was in the zone.”

Bella Nipotina, $2.40 with TAB on Thursday, has already banked $18,811,624 from her 55 starts and if she can go back-to-back in the Russell Balding, having beaten Private Eye and Think About It a year ago, she stands to earn almost $4 million.

That’s due to being eligible for two bonuses, on top of the $1,725,000 first prizemoney, as part of the Sydney Sprint Series – which she currently leads on 12 points.

But if she wins the Russell Balding she’ll not only win a $1 million bonus for that series, as the TAB Everest winner she also claims another $1 million bonus for completing that double.

It would take her prizemoney to $22,536,624 and second only to Winx on the all-time table.

Williams said he went into the Everest with the utmost faith that the mare could overcome the adversity presented by the outside barrier and nothing has changed ahead of Saturday where she’s drawn a lot more favourably.

“She won the richest turf race in the world last time in the fashion that she did because we felt we had the horse to be able to do it,’’ he said.

“You don’t win many races at that level like she did unless they’re as good and determined as she was in the Everest.

“You don’t win three Group 1s because you’ve had a good day a couple of times that’s for sure.

“You have so many options with her. We’re all on the same page, and it gives me the confidence to trust her and do what I feel works for her.

“I can’t do it without the product underneath me and she’s an amazing product.

“I can’t wait to get back on her back to see how much confidence she has when she knows she’s won the Everest, she would have read the papers and watched herself on the news!”

It’s been a big spring already for Williams in Sydney, not only did he claim the Everest but he also guided Far Too Easy to success in the $2 million The Kosciuszko.

He’ll team up with Maher again eyeing his first win in the $10 million James Squire Golden Eagle (1500m) on dual Group 1 winner Southport Tycoon.

Bella Nipotina wins the TAB Everest

The entire drew barrier 15 in the 20 horse field but Williams says he doesn’t concern himself with barrier draws and will go about working out how to give the horse his best chance to win.

He’s ridden Southport Tycoon just once, back in January, but said his form this spring tells him he can be more than competitive.

“I rode him as an immature three-year-old and he progressed nicely through that preparation,’’ he said.

“He beat me in the Manikato so I got to see him closely that time and his run on Everest Day was very good.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Golden Eagle meeting at Rosehill