Unvaccinated superstar WA jockey William Pike set to relocate and ride in NSW
WA racing’s looming vaccination mandate has forced champion jockey William Pike to apply to continue his career in New South Wales.
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New South Wales is set to become a rich haven for Perth jockey William Pike as the champion hoop stands firm in his commitment to remain unvaccinated.
Pike’s stand against Covid vaccination is set to force him out of WA racing once that state’s vaccination mandate kicks in on February 5.
New South Wales is the only state that does not demand jockeys are fully vaccinated before riding.
Pike’s manager Dale Verhagen said the rider would apply to Racing NSW stewards for a jockey’s licence this week.
“The reality is he’s not vaccinated and whether he gets done in the future or not, I can’t really answer that,” Verhagen said.
“But they don’t require it there, so he’s decided to make the move to New South Wales.
“It’s not the circumstances that we would have liked but we’ll just deal with it as he goes.
“There will obviously be a fair bit of commentary about how he’s not vaccinated, and we accept that so we’ll just deal with that and do the best we can.”
Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel confirmed Verhagen has made contact regarding his star rider’s impending state switch.
Under past protocols Pike would have needed to be vaccinated to enter a NSW racetrack but the governing body has since changed its stance to move in-line with NSW Government regulations.
“We have aligned ourselves with the NSW Government and that has not mandated laws for unvaxxed people since mid-December,” Van Gestel said.
“They are free to move around as they like. The NSW Government could change that at any stage and at this stage our position is aligned with them.
“We would obviously need to consider that position if things changed but at the moment that’s not the case.”
Pike has been the undisputed king of the WA jockeys’ ranks in recent years.
Amazingly, Pike has only had three previous rides in NSW in a career that has reaped more than 2800 wins from almost 15,000 rides.
He will be a smaller player on the strong Sydney riding scene that features stars such as James McDonald, Hugh Bowman, Tommy Berry and Nash Rawiller.
However, Verhagen said Pike would go as hard as he could to make the most of any opportunities he gets in Sydney.
Sydney racing carries significantly higher prizemoney than Perth.
“He’s not expecting to go over and take anyone’s position or anything like that,” Verhagen said.
“He’s going to work hard and see what opportunities come.”
Verhagen said Pike would start his time in Sydney on his own while his family remained in Perth, but the move was not a short-term solution.
“In a perfect world, he’ll be there for the autumn carnival and still be there for the spring carnival,” Verhagen said.
“If the mandates changed, he wouldn’t go straight home. He’s prepared to do the hard yards and timing-wise, it could work out all good.”
Verhagen said Pike hoped to start riding in NSW in mid-February.
By Brad Waters & Mitch Cohen
Originally published as Unvaccinated superstar WA jockey William Pike set to relocate and ride in NSW
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