A New Zealand Derby placegetter could be the horse to save trainer Danny Williams from a winter of discontent.

For the first time in many seasons, Williams has swapped Queensland's inviting mid-year climate for the brutality of training horses during the winter on the NSW Tablelands.

His decision to keep his team at Goulburn instead of chasing carnival wins in Queensland came down to economics but he is looking to horses like stable newcomer Carrick at Randwick on Saturday to make sure it pays.

Carrick, third to Silent Achiever in last year's New Zealand Derby, steps out in the Royal Randwick Handicap (1600m).

His exposed form makes him one of the more interesting runners at the meeting but Williams says it has been hard for him to get a true line on the four-year-old.

"We've been finding it difficult to get as much work under his belt as we would have hoped due to the weather down here," Williams said.

"I've had to rely on some unorthodox training since he got here to keep him wound up."

Williams said contrasting prize money levels between NSW and Queensland had made his decision to stay home this year an obvious one.

"We decided to bear it this year but it's very cold here and it's not an enjoyable place to be training horses through winter," he said.

"It hasn't been successful at this stage but in saying that we won a couple of races with Eminent Domain and we were going all right before that.

"It's just that sort of period we are going through where our horses haven't had things go right for them."

Williams will also start Eminent Domain at Randwick in the Kari Aboriginal Resources Handicap (1400m), hopeful the four-year-old is in the same form which delivered back-to-back wins at the track in April.

The trainer said the sprinter was unsure of his footing in one recent below-par run.

"He loves Randwick and I'm hoping he finds a bit better traction on Saturday," Williams said.