Pike and Stewart will be in action on Sunday
Top riders granted one-day visiting jockey's licences
The Singapore Turf Club has granted one-day visiting jockey's licences to William Pike and Ronnie Stewart. They will ride at the Raffles Cup meeting on Sunday.
Pike is on standby to ride Lim's Cruiser in the Group 1 Raffles Cup should first-choice partner Glen Boss' appeal against a 10-day suspension be turned down.
Stewart has been booked to ride Gold Faith in the Group 3 El Dorado Classic over 2,200m.
Both jockeys have also secured rides on the undercard.
Pike, 31, will not be at his first Singapore experience as he rode Lim's Samurai in the Group 1 Patron's Bowl on June 18 and, three weeks later partnered the same horse in the Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby.
Lim's Samurai finished eighth in the Patron's Bowl and was second behind Infantry in the Derby.
Though the nine-time Perth champion jockey did not succeed at his main missions, he did make his second visit count with two wins aboard Chairman and Mr Crowe.
With more than 1,800 winners racked up in 15 seasons, including five at Group 1 level, namely the Perth Cup and WA Derby twice and one Railway Stakes and 38 at Group 2 and 3 level, Pike has been dominating the Perth circuit in the last decade or so.
Pike is again well clear in the Perth metropolitan log in the new 2017/2018 season, sitting atop on 46 winners, double that of the next best, Daniel Staeck.
Besides Singapore, Pike did ride in Hong Kong with success in 2009 and 2012. He goes to scale at 53kg.
Stewart, 34, is no stranger to Kranji racegoers having plied his trade in Singapore for six years from 2006 to 2011, with his highlights clearly being his three Singapore Gold Cup wins with El Dorado (2008, 2009 and 2011) and claiming the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge with Jolie's Shinju.
The former Sydney champion apprentice jockey (2002-2003) has ridden in excess of 520 winners in a career spanning 18 years. First based in Sydney, he then moved to Adelaide and Newcastle, but now plies his trade in Brisbane. Overseas, he had successful stints in Macau and Mauritius.
Married to ex-Kranji jockey Sheryl Cheam, Stewart currently sits in fourth position on the Queensland metropolitan jockeys' premiership on 14 winners from 83 rides. The natural lightweight jockey goes to scale at 50kg.
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