The brilliant Denman, hot favourite for the Group One $750,000 Crown Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington tomorrow, has earned rave reviews for his easy wins in recent weeks, even being described as an emerging champion.

Williams is an admirer of Denman but isn't sure if the boom colt is deserving of such a lofty rating just yet.

"Time will tell with Denman, we will know how good he is by the end of 2010," Williams said.

"At this particular moment, he is a good horse, a very good horse - but there is a difference between good horses and champions.

"The only genuine champion I've seen in 50 years of watching racing was Kingston Town."

It was a provocative statement and one which Williams clarified.

"I've seen lots of fantastic horses over the years that you would love to have in your stable," he continued.

"Dulcify was a great horse, Sunline a good mare, Northerly was a good horse in contemporary times and Makybe Diva was an absolute freak stayer but a bit one-dimensional in a sense.

"But Kingston Town could do it over all distances. He could win a sprint over 1200m and then in the same preparation win over 3200m.

"He won three Cox Plates and there is no doubt he should have won the Melbourne Cup [second to Gurner's Lane in 1982]."

Williams said Kingston Town also had a very rare gift of being able to overcome adversity and still perform at the highest level.

"Kingston Town was an extraordinary horse because he had a suspensory problem that caused him to miss two autumn carnivals," he continued.

"Despite his leg problems, he returned each spring, dominated weight-for-age racing and won Cox Plates.

"The one occasion Denman faced adversity was in the Caulfield Guineas and he was beaten.

"I'll admit there were excuses for him that day and he looks to have returned an even better horse but it's that ability to overcome adversity that sets the genuine champions apart from other horses."

Williams wasn't knocking Denman, just trying to put the debate into perspective, and concedes Linton and others face a very difficult task to beat him and win the Australian Guineas.

Linton goes into a clash with Denman tomorrow after just three career starts, including his last-start Alister Clark Stakes win.

Williams recalled his former star Reset won an Australian Guineas at just his fourth career start but it is comparisons with another of his greys, 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Efficient, which the owner finds most striking.

"There are a fair few similarities between Linton and Efficient," Williams said. "Efficient was a spring three-year-old whereas Linton has come through the autumn.

"But Linton does remind me very much of Efficient when that horse was a three-year-old."

Efficient has developed into an outstanding stayer and won the 2007 Melbourne Cup.

Williams has no doubts Linton will stay next season.

"The Guineas will be his final run this preparation," he said. "We will test Linton over a staying distance when we bring him back in spring but I don't think there is any doubt he will stay."

Linton is by Galileo, the European super sire who Williams believes is the heir apparent to Zabeel, the most dominant staying influence in the southern hemisphere in the last 15 years and sire of Efficient.

"I've been Sir Patrick Hogan's largest buyer of Zabeels in the last decade and a half," Williams said.

"Zabeel is reaching the end of his career and in the last couple of years I have been buying Galileos. John Magnier [Coolmore Stud] told me Galileo is the best staying prospect and certainly in the northern hemisphere he is the best sire of stayers.

"I'm only interested in buying staying horses and I've got about 28 or 29 by Galileo. They all get plenty of time which I think is the key.

"Fortunately or unfortunately we haven't got any owners so we are under no pressure to run them. Most people when they buy a horse they want to see it run in the first three months - we can wait three years if we want to."

Linton is at the start of a promising career while stablemate Zipping continues to defy time.

Zipping, a rising nine-year-old, lines up for his 41st start in the Group One $1 million Darley Australian Cup (2000m) tomorrow.

Williams said Linton and Zipping were not hurt after being caught in the cyclonic storm which swept Melbourne last week and forced the Australian Guineas and Australian Cup to be postponed.

"I was there when they got back from Flemington about 5pm and both horses were fine," he said.

"I worked them on Monday morning and they went great."

Zipping has won 13 races including three Sandown Classics and nearly $2.7 million prizemoney but he is yet to win a Group One race.

Williams is hopeful Zipping's turn to break through at racing's highest level comes in the Australian Cup.

"Zipping is in particularly good order," he said.

"He does like 2000m at Flemington and I think you will find this Australian Cup will be won by a horse who is already a Group One or Two winner at 2000m or 2400m.

"So there are probably only seven or eight which meet the criteria and Zipping is one of them.

"He's been a super horse and you would love to have a yard full of Zippings."