2015 Railway Stakes Results: Good Project Wins

An outstanding Craig Williams ride helped Good Project lead from start to finish to record a maiden win at Group 1 level in the 2015 Railway Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

Good Project (pictured in Sydney) led from start to finish to take out the 2015 Railway Stakes at Ascot this afternoon. Photo by: Steve Hart

Good Project (pictured in Sydney) led from start to finish to take out the 2015 Railway Stakes at Ascot this afternoon. Photo by: Steve Hart

Williams summed up the race perfectly in the early stages of the Railway Stakes and he took Good Project straight to the lead and he was able to dictate terms of the race, while the likes of Delicacy, Real Love and Black Heart Bart were all settled in the second half of the field.

No pressure was ever applied to Good Project and he kicked away at the top of the straight and he never looked like getting beaten.

Chris Waller Melbourne stable foreperson Justine Hales was quick to pay credit to the ride of Williams and she believes that it was his initiative that made the difference in the 2015 Railway Stakes.

“He summed it up perfectly before the race perfectly before the race,” Hales said.

“He said that he had to jump out and get handy and we didn’t think that he would get to the lead that easily.

“He slowed them up and he wanted to pinch that break coming around to the top of the straight.

“He is a great rider, he thinks about things so well and he knew that horse had no weight and they just had to catch him.

“He is a lovely colt and he is a lovely horse to deal with.

“Everything he does he just takes in his stride and that is what has helped him.”

Williams had his first ride on Good Project in the Railway Stakes and he bounced back from what had been a mixed 2015 Spring Racing Carnival campaign to produce a simply outstanding ride.

Williams said that he always had plenty of faith in Good Project after Waller told him that this had always been his major target and he was clearly delighted to have won the Railway Stakes for the second time in his career.

“On the way to the gates he was a bit cheeky, so I gave him a good warm-up to get him into race mode,” Williams said.

“I got the instructions from Chris throughout the day and he said to trust the horse and this is what we had targeted him for.

“I was lucky to have the horse to win it.

“I was a little bit worried when I was under pressure rather than just travelling around the bend, but he did well, he had been trained up to the minute and he is a lovely horse.

“He is now a Group 1 winner and it gives me a great thrill to come over to Perth and win one of their biggest races.

Messene produced another consistent performance to finish second, while the well-backed Real Love and Delicacy were settled towards the tail of the field and were never able to get into the race.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.