Craig Williams steps up search for a spring candidate as international superstar climbs aboard Temple Of Boom Craig Williams rides Temple Of Boom, a straight and wet-track specialist who is a well-backed $4 chance in Aurie's Star markets. Picture: Mark Cranitch Source: Herald Sun IN years gone by, Bart Cummings would use the Aurie's Star Handicap to launch the campaigns of his Melbourne Cup horses. Cummings does not have a runner in today's 1200m sprint at Flemington but Craig Williams has a ride and Williams, arguably the world's top jockey, launches his own spring campaign in the race. Williams rides well-fancied Temple Of Boom, a good sprinter whose spring is looking a lot less restricted than previous carnivals, where Black Caviar proved invincible. Temple Of Boom, a straight and wet-track specialist, is a well-backed $4 chance in Aurie's Star markets. The favourite, at $3.40, is Adelaide sprinter Riziz, a last-start winner up the Flemington straight. "It's looking like one of those springs," Williams said. Those top three-year-olds (Pierro and All Too Hard) have retired and there is no Black Caviar either. You wonder who is going to fill the void, so you're looking at the upcoming three-year-olds and maybe the internationals again. This far out, the Williams cupboard is empty. But the world's most diligent jockey is, as he says, "doing my homework." Dunaden and Southern Speed gave him victory in the past two Caulfield Cups, but the French horse will not be here this spring and the latter has been retired, as has another prospective mount, three-year-old Assail. I think everyone's in the same boat. You're just waiting to see how things pan out, how the new three-year-olds measure up, what's going on with the internationals," Williams said. But you ride well, ride plenty of winners and the rest tends to take care of itself. Williams said there was less certainty about his spring mounts than those of some other top riders because he is not closely linked to a major stable. Williams is a regular contract jockey in Japan and would seem the local rider most likely to take a Japanese Caulfield or Melbourne Cup mount if the Japanese return for the first time since 2006. But Williams predicted onerous quarantine restrictions would again prevent any more than one Japanese horse coming out for the Cups. "It's still a big issue for them, the quarantine," he said.