William Pike back in WA ahead of Group 1 racing season

Star jockey William Pike is set to make his return to Western Australia just days before the state’s first Group 1 race of the 2022/23 season.

After relocating from Perth to Sydney in February, Pike will now return to the WA capital now that the COVID-19 vaccine regulations have been lifted.

Pike will be heading back to Perth on a high after he was successful in the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday aboard Sheeza Belter, which was his most significant win in New South Wales.

The 36-year-old jockey was snapped in Western Australia early on Tuesday morning, doing some work for Perth-based trainer Hayden Ballantyne.

Ballantyne tweeted a picture of the ‘The Wizard’, who was saddling up one of his horses in the background.

Pike’s return to WA comes on the eve of the Perth Summer Carnival, highlighted by two Group 1 races — the Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) and the Northerly Stakes (1800m), formerly known as the Kingston Town Classic.

Combining those Group 1 events with the inaugural running of The Gold Rush (1400m), the upcoming features will offer over A$1.5 million in prize money.

On his return to WA, Pike has been booked for two rides at Ascot on Wednesday and three rides at Belmont on Thursday, reuniting with the Bob Peters-owned and Adam Durrant-trained pair Inspired and Restful over those two days.

The strong association that Pike and Peters had, before the former’s swift exit to Sydney, will be rekindled on Saturday at Ascot, where Pike is expected to ride Devoted in the Group 3 R.J. Peters Stakes.

Devoted is the second favourite for the Group 1 Railway Stakes on November 19, but with a handicap rating of 85 he may need to win the Peters Stakes to gain a start in the Group 1 feature.