Pike lands four-timer and claims Bolton Sprint with outstanding ride aboard Wind And The LionHayden KingThe West AustralianSat, 19 July 2025 6:37PMEmail Hayden King
Another three-year-old has trumped some of WA’s most hardened speedsters, this time with Wind And The Lion claiming a gritty win in the Listed $125,000 H G Bolton Sprint (1200m) at Bunbury.
Wind And The Lion’s barrier one advantage had quickly become the opposite across the afternoon with all runners deserting the fence in favour of superior going near the outside of the track.
Despite that, punters rallied behind the ability of Pike and his mount, sending them around conspicuous $2.35 TABtouch elects
The gelding broke the gates cleanly but with urgent early dash from both Puli ($18) and Phanta ($14), was forced back to midfield as the former blitzed over to occupy the lead role.
Still trapped underneath rivals, Wind And The Lion was under a gentle niggle from Pike and slipped back to third last approaching the bend as the front-runners turned the screw passing the 600m.
But once beginning to straighten, the champion hoop galvanised the gelding into action and the pair began to pick up headway.
Steering more centrally than the chasing pack, Puli continued to grind away upfront but Wind And The Lion was now making noticeable progress from behind and Pike was threading his way through.
With one final extrication from Phanta’s heels at the 200m and a prompt of the persuader from his rider, the son of Written By now had an unimpeded shot at Puli.
But Shaun O’Donnell and Vast Art ($14) had built up their own head of steam right against the stand’s rail and started to thunder into calculations.
With less than 100m to go, Wind And The Lion reached a narrow lead from Puli but Vast Art was bearing threateningly alongside.
Inside the final 50m, Vast Art moved up with his ominous bid, however, his younger rival refused to lie down and fought doggedly to a neck success.
The victory follows fellow three-year-old Repossession’s win in the opening leg of the feature winter sprint series after he won the Beaufine Stakes at Pinjarra a fortnight ago.
For all their sprinting triumphs, it was a first win in the contest for father-son training duo Sean and Jake Casey, while Pike claimed his sixth.
Previous wins aboard Is Amazing (2007) and Marasco (2008) for Fred Kersley were proceeded by Grant Williams’ Celebrity Miss (2014), Darren McAuliffe’s Rebel King (2015) and most recently the Simon Miller-trained Valour Road (2019), who was retired only last December.
+ In her seventh and final eastern states run for this campaign, WA pacing mare Steno ($5.50) placed for the seventh consecutive time with another bold effort in the Group 1 Golden Girl at Albion Park.
Beginning brilliantly from gate four, the Jocelyn Young-trained and driven six-year-old sizzled to the front and held the front from Eye Keep Smiling ($1.30), who had beaten her in all four of their meetings over recent months across the seaboard.
With Eye Keep Smiling, who won the event in 2024 rating 1:51.5, sitting outside her and breathing down her neck, a breakneck tempo ensued for the entirety of the 1660m journey.
Cornering as one, Eye Keep Smiling eventually ground Steno into submission and forged clear, with Tay Tay ($12) running past Steno late to secure second place.
Eye Keep Smiling stopped the clock at 1:49.9, joining a rare and illustrious list of horses to break the 1:50-barrier at Albion Park and confirmed her status as one of the best mares to race in the modern era.
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