Pike, Pinheiro get QE II Cup rides
Visiting apprentice Eaton will spend three weeks at Kranji from Oct 28 to Nov 17
The Singapore Turf Club has granted a one-day visiting jockey's licence to Australian jockey William Pike to ride at the Queen Elizabeth II Cup meeting on Oct 20.
The leading Perth jockey has been booked by trainer Ricardo Le Grange to ride King Louis in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 1,800m.
The 33-year-old 11-time Perth champion jockey is a regular short-term visitor at Kranji.
He will be on his 11th visit, mostly at feature race meetings, with his last stint seeing him finishing third on King Louis in the Group 3 El Dorado Classic over 2,000m on Sept 20.
Though he is still chasing a first feature win at Kranji, Pike does have four winners on the board - Chairman, Mr Crowe, King Of War and Really Capable, all earned in 2017.
Boasting a record of more than 2,000 winners in 16 seasons of riding, Pike sits in second place on the 2019-2020 metropolitan Western Australian jockey's premiership, on 23 winners, just one behind new Perth sensation Jade McNaught.
He goes to scale at 54 kg.
Two other new faces will also be in action at Kranji.
The club granted a short-term visiting apprentice jockey's licence to Australian apprentice jockey Jessica Eaton and a one-day visiting jockey's licence to Brazilian jockey Bernardo Pinheiro.
Pinheiro, who is not on his first Singapore visit, is again booked by trainer Lee Freedman to ride Mr Clint in the Cup while Eaton, 26, will be on her maiden visit as she spends three weeks at Kranji as part of a new exchange programme between the Singapore Turf Club and Racing Victoria.
Currently indentured to Mornington trainer Chris Meagher, she will be transferring to Meagher's younger brother Daniel during her stay from Oct 28 to Nov 17.
Leading Kranji apprentice jockey Simon Kok Wei Hoong will in return be on loan to Melbourne trainers David Hayes & Tom Dabernig during the racing break in December.
From Gisborne South, north of Melbourne, Eaton decided to become a jockey when she was indentured to Caulfield trainer Mick Price in 2014.
A graduate of the Racing Victoria Apprentice Jockeys Training Program, Eaton made her riding debut at Tatura on April 4, 2015 before riding her first winner three weeks later.
She has already rung up a tally of 112 winners, with 14 of them coming at metropolitan level in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
Eaton goes to scale at 51kg, and claims three kilos at metropolitan meetings in Australia. Under the Malayan Racing Association Rules of Racing, she will be entitled to a 3kg claim as well.
Pinheiro, 23, will be at his third pitstop visit to Kranji, having also partnered Mr Clint at his two previous stops, finishing second on both occasions in the Group 1 Singapore Derby in July and the Group 1 Raffles Cup last month.
He just wrapped up a highly successful stint in Malaysia which began in July, and where he rode 33 winners from only 119 rides to finish seventh on the log.
He is about to commence a new contract in Dubai.
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