Jockey William Pike itching for hometown Group 1: ‘They are not easy to win over here’

It’s been three long years since champion Perth jockey William Pike won a hometown Group 1 … but he’s rolling the dice on a breakthrough on Saturday.

Casino Seventeen resumes with a brilliant win for William Pike and will now contest the Group 1 Railway Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. Picture: Western Racepix

Brilliant jockey William Pike is known as the wizard of the west but he knows sometimes even his bag of tricks isn’t quite enough to conjure a hometown Group 1 win.

Pike wins races for fun in Western Australia but hasn’t scooped a home soil Group 1 since he scored the 2021 Winterbottom Stakes (Graceful Girl) and Railway Stakes (Western Empire).

He went frustratingly close to claiming Group 1s in his home carnival last year when finishing runner-up on Oscar’s Fortune in the Winterbottom won by Overpass and again when second aboard Alsephina in Bustling’s Railway victory.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

On Saturday, 17-time Group 1 winner Pike will be looking to snaffle his sixth Railway Stakes (1600m) when he links with this year’s Perth Cup (2400m) champion Casino Seventeen.

Casino Seventeen might be known more as a stayer but showed he has an electric sprint when fresh, scoring the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes over 1400m when resuming with Pike in the saddle at Ascot on November 9.

CASINO SEVENTEEN (#CasinoPrince / Tikal)

G2 Lee Steere Stakes 1400m@PerthRacing
J: William Pike pic.twitter.com/VaIl1irQ0Z

— Williams Racing WA (@williamsracing6) November 9, 2024

• FIFO king of Perth plotting another Group 1 heist

The Grant and Alana Williams-trained galloper was sent out $21 when winning first-up and is $23 to become a Group 1 winner in the Railway on Saturday.

“I’m itching to win another one (Group 1 in Perth), they are not easy to win over here,” Pike told Racenet.

“There are generally only a select few chances.

“Even when you have got the right ride, they are still hard to win.

“I am trying to make every one count and I’ll be trying to make this one count.

“If I am perfectly honest, I have never been sold on this horse as a stayer.

“I think he won the Perth Cup because he is a good trier and he has that never say die attitude.

“But he has always sprinted too well at the start of his campaigns to think he is an out-and-out plugger.

“That first-up win wasn’t a surprise to us.

“With that in mind he will continue to sprint well, rather than switching tactics and changing to the longer distances.”

Champion Perth jockey William Pike is shooting for a Group 1 aboard Casino Seventeen in the Group 1 Railway Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. Picture: Western Racepix

• WATCH: Jockey's inspiring return from brain injury

While Pike’s mount is not one of the betting fancies for the $1.5m feature, it is a different story in the $500,000 Group 2 WA Guineas (1600m).

He rides $3.90 second pick Storyville who is on a seven-day back-up after scoring last Saturday’s Group 3 WA Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m).

Guineas favourite September Born is currently rated as the best three-year-old in WA, but that could all change on Saturday.’

“September Born is the benchmark three-year-old, but I believe my filly is still improving,” Pike said.

“I’ve only just figured out how she should be ridden and she is getting better and better.

“In the Champion Fillies, she settled really well and has got more to offer and that’s what I really like about her.”

■ Democracy Manifest has been passed fit to run in the Railway Stakes by vets on Friday morning after showing signs of lameness earlier in the week.

Originally published as Jockey William Pike itching for hometown Group 1: ‘They are not easy to win over here’