Teetotal star Williams out to raise bar

Strange as it seems, Williams could take or leave racing until well into his teens. Rugby was the passion in Bridgend and, with stars like Scott Gibbs and Gareth Thomas as neighbours and current Welsh international Gavin 'Thunderboot' Henson as a schoolmate, the young Williams went with the flow for long enough.

"I always watched rugby and played as a centre, but my dad trained a few decent point-to-pointers and things started to change once I rode a good one called Touch N Pass," he said.

A spell with Hungerford trainer Dai Williams and a year at college studying sports science paved the way for a successful stint at Richard Barber's powerful Somerset point-to-point yard, but the springboard for his leap into the top 10 of the jockeys' table has been provided by a move to join Paul Nicholls and a burgeoning link with Cardiff handler Evan Williams.

Nicholls has provided a clutch of big winners through horses like Armaturk, Royal Auclair and Perouse, while the up-and-coming Evan Williams (no relation) has supplied a steady stream of success at lower levels.

"I'd say the real turning point came last summer, when I went home to Wales and decided to show the people who were hinting that I wouldn't make it that they were wrong," he said.

"I'd like to think that now I'm 22 my weight has stabilised at around 10 stone.

"I have to work to keep it there. Rather than go for a drink after racing I tend to off for a swim then get to bed by half eight."

The spartan regime will continue into 2005, but does Williams have any regrets about not joining his partying colleagues at the Lesters next month?

"Not at all," he said. "I wouldn't really be the sort for a do like that unless I had actually won something."

Give it another 12 months and he might have no excuse for staying away.