Who's under the spotlight?

The beginning: a dairy farm at Winslow, near Warrnambool. Apprentice to CS Hayes, then a jumps jockey good enough to captain Australia against Ireland — until his own frame outgrew the scales at 23. He spent time with Bart Cummings, Aidan O'Brien and Willie Mullins, then started alone with six boxes on his father's farm.

The arrival: a $101 shot named Tears I Cry, winning the 2007 Group 1 Cantala Stakes with a 26-year-old trainer nobody knew.

The hard chapter: 2017 — six months out and a $75,000 fine. Maher had been taken in by conman Peter Foster's ownership scheme; his offence was failing to report his own suspicions about it. He pleaded guilty, served the time, and came back. It's on his record; it's on this page.

The build: Jameka's 2016 Caulfield Cup announced him; the Maher & Eustace partnership (2018–2023) made him an empire — Gold Trip's 2022 Melbourne Cup the crown. Now sole principal again, with bases from Ballarat to Warwick Farm, and one of the few active trainers to hold the spring's Big Three: Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate.

The eye: bought Jameka for $130,000 — she earned $4.87 million. Merchant Navy for $350,000 — sold for $27 million. He reads horses the way we try to read races.

• 2016 — Caulfield Cup (Jameka)
• 2019 — Doomben Cup & Queen of the Turf (Kenedna) · Manikato (Loving Gaby)
• 2020 — Cox Plate (Sir Dragonet) · Sydney Cup (Etah James) · William Reid (Loving Gaby)
• 2021 — Australian & SA Derby (Explosive Jack) · Victoria Derby (Hitotsu) · Tancred (Sir Dragonet)
• 2022 — Melbourne Cup (Gold Trip) · Australian Derby & Guineas (Hitotsu) · AJ Moir (Coolangatta) · Coolmore Classic (Lighthouse) · Oakleigh Plate (Marabi) · Memsie & Sangster (Snapdancer) · Manikato (Bella Nipotina) · Turnbull (Smokin' Romans)
• 2023 — Empire Rose & Champions Mile (Pride of Jenni) · The Goodwood (Royal Merchant) · Sydney Cup (Explosive Jack) · Turnbull (Gold Trip)
• 2024 — The Everest, Doomben 10,000 & Tatts Tiara (Bella Nipotina) · Caulfield Cup (Duke De Sessa) · QE Stakes (Pride of Jenni) · Queensland Oaks (Socks Nation) · Manikato (Southport Tycoon)
• 2025 — Victoria Derby (Observer) · Empire Rose again (Pride of Jenni)
• 2026 — Queensland Oaks (Fireball Miss)

The beginning: apprenticed to his father Allan in 1993 — a racing family through and through; grandfather Tom Harrison trained in Melbourne, Allan rode at the top before injury turned him to training. Craig's first city winner came that same year at Caulfield. He's still the youngest jockey ever to win the Cranbourne Cup.

The craft: a stint in England under Mick Channon sharpened him; home again, he became the metronome of Melbourne racing — nine-time premier jockey, five-time Scobie Breasley Medal winner (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017).

The one that got away: 2011. He won the Caulfield Cup on Southern Speed and the Cox Plate on Pinker Pinker, and was booked for Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup — a shot at a triple nobody's ever pulled off. A careless riding suspension at the Bendigo Cup rubbed him out. Dunaden won the Cup without him, under Christophe Lemaire.

The reply: a year later, same horse. Williams rode Dunaden to win the 2012 Caulfield Cup from the worst gate in the race's history — barrier 22, top weight, no horse had ever won from out there. Back-to-back Caulfield Cups.

The one that mattered: 2019. Fifteenth ride in the Melbourne Cup. Vow and Declare, Australian-bred, and Williams finally put the missing line on the resume — the Cup he'd chased his whole career.

• 2000 — Australasian Oaks (Grand Echezeaux) · Dewhurst & Prix de la Salamandre (Tobougg, UK/France)
• 2005 — Moir (Virage De Fortune) · Sir Rupert Clarke & Toorak (Barely A Moment)
• 2006 — Golden Slipper, Thousand Guineas & Kennedy Oaks (Miss Finland) · Cox Plate (Fields of Omagh)
• 2007 — Victoria Derby (Kibbutz) · Australian Guineas & Vinery (Miss Finland) · Stradbroke (Sniper's Bullet)
• 2008–09 — Futurity & Australian Cup (Niconero) · Sydney Cup (Ista Kareem) · Winterbottom (Ortensia)
• 2010 — Tancred (Littorio) · Oaks (Brazilian Pulse) · Tenno Sho (Jaguar Mail, Japan)
• 2011 — Caulfield Cup (Southern Speed) · Cox Plate (Pinker Pinker) · Hong Kong Vase (Dunaden) · NHK Mile (Grand Prix Boss, Japan)
• 2012 — Caulfield Cup (Dunaden) · Al Quoz Sprint (Ortensia, Dubai) · TJ Smith (Master Of Design)
• 2014 — Australian Guineas (Shamus Award) · George Ryder (Gordon Lord Byron)
• 2015 — Queen Elizabeth (Criterion) · Rosehill Guineas (Volkstok'n'barrell)
• 2016–17 — The Galaxy (Griante) · Blue Diamond (Catchy) · Singapore Gold Cup (Bahana)
• 2018 — Futurity (Brave Smash) · Champions Mile (Best Of Days) · William Reid (Hellbent) · Thousand Guineas (Amphitrite)
• 2019 — Melbourne Cup (Vow and Declare) · Manikato (Loving Gaby) · Toorak & Champions Mile (Fierce Impact) · Singapore Gold Cup (Mr Clint)
• 2020 — Coolmore (September Run) · Memsie & Sir Rupert Clarke (Behemoth) · Rosehill Guineas (Castelvecchio)
• 2021 — Stradbroke & Tatts Tiara (Tofane) · Underwood (Zaaki)
• 2022 — The Everest (Giga Kick) · Doncaster (Mr Brightside) · Manikato (Bella Nipotina)
• 2023 — All Aged & Doomben 10,000 (Giga Kick) · Makybe Diva & Memsie (Mr Brightside)
• 2024 — The Everest & Doomben 10,000 (Bella Nipotina)
• 2025 — Hong Kong Derby (Cap Ferrat)