William Pike drops hint for Kingston Town Classic ride

Super-jock William Pike has spoken on Perth radio this morning following his Railway Stakes heroics over the weekend, and may have given punters the best indication yet of which horse he’d prefer to ride in the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic at Ascot on December 8.

“I’m just going to wait and see how they (Arcadia Queen and Galaxy Star) both pull up. But I think the fact three-year-olds get weighted so well in the race means I’m probably leaning towards the filly (Arcadia Queen),” Pike told Sport FM.

“Not because one’s better than the other, just the big weight relief is such a huge factor. Three-year-olds usually get in at around 50kg, so it could end up being a 7kg weight advantage over Galaxy Star.”

It’s how I won the race a couple of years ago with Perfect Reflection. I had 7kgs on Delicacy and beat her by a nose, so without that weight relief I wouldn’t have won.”

Pike had a day to remember at Ascot on Saturday.

‘The Wizard’ rode four winners, highlighted by expert steers on Arcadia Queen in the WA Guineas and Galaxy Star in the Railway Stakes.

The brilliance of both of those wins has setup a potentially mouth-watering match race between the two Peters Investment-owned stars, assuming they both take their place in the Kingston Town Classic field.

“Everyone is waiting to see how they pull up and then the pressure will come to make a decision in the next few days,” Pike said.

“Usually the decision is left with me. No one wants to be the person who told me to jump off the winner.”

Galaxy Star is currently the $4.20 favourite for the final Group 1 race of the 2018 TabTouch Masters Series, with Arcadia Queen on the second line of betting at $4.50. Forgotten horse and Mackinnon Stakes winner Trap for Fools is next best at $5, with reigning WA race horse of the year Material Man at $8.

Pike also gave his thoughts on Enticing Star’s chances ahead of this weekend’s Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes. following a less than ideal warm-up in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes a little over a week ago.

“It just didn’t happen for us last start. I’ve put that run behind me to be honest. She was flying before hand and I know she’s more than capable. I just put it down to her having a headache that day, and I hope it doesn’t happen again this weekend,” Pike said.

“I wont jump on her (Enticing Star) at all this week. Adam Durant said to me ‘you stay at home, you’ll just stuff her up’,” Pike said.