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Dubai: Australian jockey Craig Williams, who has of late been cutting across time zones, hopes to see Niconero finish on top in the $5million Dubai Duty Free race on Saturday.
"As a jockey I have no other choice but just try to get as much sleep as possible on the plane," Williams said at the Breakfast with the Stars held at Nad Al Sheba yesterday.
The past couple of weeks have been far from easy for the jockey.
He did a Group 1 race at the Sydney Carnival on Saturday and then flew in to the Gold Coast to see a few Japanese and South African owners and investors.
On Wednesday he was back in Melbourne for racing before boarding a flight to Dubai.
At the beginning of the month, Williams piloted the David Hayes-trained Niconero to an emphatic win in the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.
"He (Niconero) has never raced better. He is a genuine Group One horse," Williams said.
Strong contenders
However, Niconero will have to get past a strong contenders like New Zealand's lone entry Seachange, Herman Brown's Linngari, Katsuhiko-trained Vodka, French horse Darjina, Saeed Bin Surour-trained Literato and Creachadoir, Jim Polger's Irish raider Finsceal Beo and Hong Kong's dual entry Floral Pegasus and Bullish Luck, trained by Tony Cruz.
"This is probably the strongest line-up I have seen. There is a lot of depth out there and each of them is definitely dangerous," Williams noted.
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