Seeking shelter for nearly three hours in a Ukrainian bunker as the war with Russia continued to unfold, brought champion jockey Craig Williams a perspective he never imagined as a lead-in to this year’s Melbourne Cup.

Williams is renowned for his clinical preparation, but nothing could have prepared him for the devastating effects of the war playing out in the homeland of his wife Larysa.

“The Ukranian people have given me strength in how united they are and, how stoic they are,” Williams told The West Australian ahead of his hopes for Melbourne Cup victory aboard Hoo Ya Mal.

“They know that if they don’t win their race, they are either dead or don’t get the choice in whatever they want to do, see, watch or think ever again. So it’s so important for them to win this race.

“Going in there has been a profound, life-changing experience. It’s made me be a better person and if I’m a better person, I’m a better jockey.”

Williams used to describe the Melbourne Cup as “just another handicap”. Then it became “the greatest race in the world” once he had finally won it when he repelled the international invasion to record an Australian victory with Vow And Declare in 2019.

In 2022, as much as he will prepare as well as he always does and show the fighting spirit in the saddle that he always has, he has a different feel for the race that stops the nation. It will not ease his will to win, but his two humanitarian aid trips to Ukraine have given him a more acute understanding of what life and death really means.

Williams said he had huddled next to his father Allan in a bunker for nearly three hours after air raid sirens had screamed out during their latest trip. He said the thoroughbred racing industry had raised $450,000 for the cause.

“When you start seeing the devastation caused by the Russian missiles, you start contemplating and understanding the things that are most important to you,” he said.

“It’s about my family for me and whether they’re safe. It blows windows and pushes people over a kilometre away - it’s unbelievable and it’s horrific. Children are playing in the playground at the wrong time and they’re losing limbs.

“You realise how privileged we are to be in the racing industry, let alone how fortunate we are to be born in and live in Australia, which is 15,000km away. My preparation for a race like the Cup hasn’t changed, but I can tell you I’ve got more perspective and understanding.

“You make sure you and your family are healthy and safe and the rest is that we’re just lucky. I love my job, but to go over there and save lives means so much to my wife and I and it’s not lost on them, either.

“You just know you’re doing the right thing by taking over 1000kg of trauma kits which save lives.”

Williams’ wife, whose parents still live in Ukraine, recently claimed more than 200,000 of her country’s children had been kidnapped by Russian soldiers, while four million had been displaced. Some had been raped, others tortured.

During the Williams’ first mission, in a 96-hour mercy dash from Sydney to Warsaw and back and including a four-hour drive to Ukraine, they deposited four suitcases filled with 92 trauma kits to people who had fled to the Polish border.

Their project recently allowed more generators, survival and trauma kits and food parcels to be delivered, while the Australian Defence Force will help deliver the winter package in mid-November.

Williams had not ridden Hoo Ya Mal, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, until he took the promising four-year-old through his paces at Werribee twice last week. He said the horse, which has won two of only nine career starts and also been placed four other times, was a work in progress with a special talent.

“I’ve done all his replays and three runs ago he finished alongside (Cup favourite) Deauville Legend and after that he won in a small field over 2800m at Goodwood,” Williams said.

“I was happy that would see him run out 3200m on our track at Flemington. His last run was one that was a bit disappointing on his previous runs, but I believe there were reasons for it on the day.

“He has a nice action, he’s very healthy and he’s very well, but he’s also very inexperienced. He’s only lightly-raced and whatever he’s doing now, he’s going to be a more furnished racehorse in 12 months.”

Williams did, however, claim that it was not a vintage Melbourne Cup field, dripping with top-end talent.

“It’s a soft year,” he said. “Multiple horses who have got a start wouldn’t have got there in a normal year. The lack of international numbers means a lot more local horses will have an opportunity and that’s fantastic.”

Hoo Ya Mal is a $15 chance for the Cup behind $3.70 race favourite Deauville Legend.

People wanting to donate to the Williams family’s humanitarian mission in Ukraine can do so at craigwilliamsjockey.com.au