“We did ask [for the ride], but Chad won on it the other day and he’s retained the ride, so good luck to him, and we’ll just try and find ways of seeing if she has any kinks in her armour.”

In the Verry Elleegant, Williams is on a better chance with Sir Delius ($6.50) but faces arguably the toughest challenge in Australian racing, the unbeaten Autumn Glow ($1.30), which will strive for a 10th victory and second group 1.

Sir Delius is seen as the main threat, although co-trainer Adrian Bott has indicated the import will need the first-up run en route to 2000m targets the Ranvet and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The Frankel five-year-old surged late for a close second first-up over the mile in the Chelmsford Stakes last spring before Williams got aboard, and they won the group 1 Underwood (1800m) and Turnbull Stakes (2000m) in Melbourne. Sir Delius was then sensationally ruled out of the Melbourne carnival after failing mandatory scans.

Williams has travelled up three times to trial Sir Delius and he was encouraged by the prospect of a rain-affected track on Saturday. He won in France and first-up at Doomben on heavy going. Randwick was a soft 7 on Friday with more rain forecast.

“He’s an easy horse to want to be associated with,” Williams said.

“I’ve had two race rides on him for two group 1 wins, and the calibre of horses he beat in those … we’re not going to backtrack on it, but we thought we had the right horse for the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup last year, but we were unable to show everyone how good he was going.

“Obviously, he’s a very competitive horse with great ability, he’s always presented well by Gai [Waterhouse] and Adrian. They know him really well, and they think he’s got more to come, which his form suggests, but he’s such a great warrior and his performances in Australia have been outstanding.”

Bott said Sir Delius would “enjoy a bit of cut out of the ground” but he still expected “good improvement to come” after Saturday.

“He ran a good race [last time first-up] but he was still beaten,” Bott said.

“He was going in there off a different prep, off a Queensland prep, so it was a short turnaround into the spring, so he probably had a bit more residual fitness.

“Going into this carnival, he’s finished the campaign earlier than we expected last time, he’s had a longer break, and maybe even a shorter time frame to get to this point off a longer break, just given time we had, with the imaging he’s had.”

Crunch time for Golden Slipper hopes

Adrian Bott believes the addition of blinkers will help Knightsbridge push his claims in the Skyline Stakes as the stable looks to build its Golden Slipper team.

Shiki, fourth in the prizemoney order, is the only Waterhouse-Bott hope safely in the March 21 Slipper but they have four with chances to book a spot at Randwick on Saturday.

Knightsbridge (26th), a winner at Randwick then fifth in the Magic Millions Classic, and Plagiarism (22nd), which was third in the Golden Gift then sixth in the Inglis Millennium, run in the group 2 Skyline needing at least a prizemoney boost.

“Knightsbridge ran a good race in the Magic Millions,” Bott said.

“He probably got further back than I thought. Blinkers go on, which I think will just help switch him on.

“Plagiarism was excellent in his first-up run in the Millennium. He just didn’t have much luck in running, was caught three wide and tired late.”

In the fillies’ qualifier, the Sweet Embrace, By Choice (27th) and Lumbini (63rd) return after contrasting Magic Millions fortunes. By Choice finished third in the $3 million race last month by Lumbini was scratched because of lameness.

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“By Choice was excellent in the Magic Millions and she trialled well here the other day. She seems in good shape,” Bott said.

“Lumbini missed the Magic Millions but seems in good order. She always had a bit of talent. She won well first up, then ran second behind Warwoven, so it’s the right form lines. She’s got to put her hand up as well.

“They are all pretty even. Everyone gets their chance to put their hand up, and the one that does is probably the one you want to be on going forward.”