Western Empire completed a Belmont feature race treble when comprehensively outclassing his opposition in the Group 3 Strickland Stakes over 2000m.
The Grant and Alana Williams trained gelding, who continues to thrive as an eight-year-old, has, in less than month, taken out the Belmont Sprint over 1400m, the Hyperion Stakes over 1600m and now the Strickland over 2000m – all at Group 3 level.
In that run of results, Western Empire won the Belmont Sprint for the second time (he had previously won it in 2024) and he made it back-to-back wins in the Hyperion Stakes … but the Strickland Stakes was a new notch on the belt.
Western Empire had tackled the Strickland on two previous occasions … finishing second in 2024 and fourth in 2025 … meaning he had unfinished to take care of which he did in empathic fashion under another imperious ride from Willie Pike.
It was all quite clinical. Western Empire jumped well … tracked the speed in third place on the rail … angled out on the turn … and then was sent for home approaching the 200m mark before striding away to win by a comfortable 1.38 length margin.
The win also ticked another box as, although Western Empire did win the Melvista Stakes over 2200m and the WATC Derby over 2400m all the way back in March and April 2021, he had largely been restricted to shorter distances since and, so, to step up to 2000m again … and win … was a telling outcome.
The Daniel and Ben Pearce trained Let’s Galahvant, who on the 2024 edition of the race when beating Western Empire, finished second this time around, under Tash Faithfull, creating a landmark moment of his own as the Strickland runner-up finish as enough to see the Galah gelding’s earnings break through the $1 million mark.
Western Empire started at the prohibitive odds of $1.45. Let’s Galahvant was a $31 chance.
The second favourite Hoba West ($4.20), who took the fight with Western Empire in the Hyperion to the very last strides, led early but did not offer the same resistance as before and went one-paced to the line to be beaten out of the placings.