Racing
Pike struggling with Northerly dilemma
Jockey struggling to make a call on his preferred Northerly Stakes ride
Trying to win this Saturday's Winterbottom Stakes with Rey Magnerio is William Pike's immediate Group 1 concern, but he admits that much of his time is being taken up by a feature race later in The Pinnacles.
Pike has to decide which of the two 1600-metre feature winners he rode at Ascot last Saturday he will partner in the Group 1 Northerly Stakes (1800m) on December 6.
The champion rider won a sixth Railway Stakes on Watch Me Rock, 40 minutes after guiding King Of Light to a brilliant win in the Group 2 victory in the WA Guineas.
Pike hoped a bit of alone time in the car on the return trip to Bunbury on Sunday would help him make the decision, but he conceded he is still at a loss.
"It's a good problem to have, they're going to converge in one race, but honestly I don't know," Pike told SENTrack.
"I'm going to have to flip a coin or something like that.
"Obviously, I've gone through it all. Watch Me Rock probably doesn't get in that well at the weights, whereas King Of Light does.
"Three-year-olds have a good record in the race, but I think Watch Me Rock still had another length up his sleeve (on Saturday), he was waiting on the line.
"It's very difficult…it's a good problem to have. I'm not used to making a decision like this, but I've got to hope something gives me an answer somehow."
The Dan Morton-trained King Of Light tightened his grip on Northerly Stakes favouritism with his Guineas win, now heading most markets at $3, whereas $10 is available about Watch Me Rock, who is prepared by Pike's biggest supporters Grant and Alana Williams.
King Of Light will carry just 52kg under the weight-for-age conditions of the Northerly Stakes, with Watch Me Rock jumping from the 54kg he carried in the Railway Stakes to 59kg, but Pike said the respectively weights will not impact his decision.
"I don't mind about the weight, I'm not that heavyweight rider – it just means I'd have to behave for a couple of weeks on the weight side – but I just want to try and make the right choice," he said.
Pike made a hard call ahead of the $1.5m Winterbottom Stakes, answering a call-up from Robbie Griffiths to team with Rey Magnerio.
He partnered Oscar's Fortune into second place behind WA's top sprinter Joker's Grin in the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes on November 15 but doubted whether he could turn the tables in this weekend's 1200m race.
"He's done nothing wrong, he's been very good, but I just wasn't sure if we'd be able to beat Joker's Grin so I was looking for another option to see if I could have a knockout blow," Pike said.
Pike will be chasing a fourth win in the Winterbottom Stakes, following earlier wins aboard Ellicorsam (2004), Hadabeclorka (2010) and Graceful Girl (2021).
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