Champion WA jockey William Pike booked to ride Steel Prince in Melbourne Cup at Flemington

Champion WA jockey William Pike has been booked to ride Steel Prince in the Melbourne Cup.

Co-trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman snapped up Pike to ride Steel Prince, who is coming off a tough win in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup.

Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter handed Steel Prince a 1kg penalty for the victory, elevating his Melbourne Cup weight to 53.5kg which virtually assures him of a start in the race.

Steel Prince, who ran ninth in last year’s Melbourne Cup, is a $26 chance with Neds for the famous 3200m feature at Flemington on Tuesday week.

“He has come through Wednesday’s victory in fantastic order and we are excited to get him to back to Flemington in 10 days time,” the Freedman stable tweeted.

Pike, who has based himself in Victoria for the spring carnival, was initially booked to ride the WA part-owned Schabau in the cup.

However, the German import is yet to book a cup start.

The cup ride was welcome news for Pike after he rode star WA mare Arcadia Queen to fifth placing in yesterday’s Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.

One of the fancies in the race, Arcadia Queen clipped heels at the 1000m and blundered, almost dislodging Pike from the saddle.

However, she recovered to produce a courageous run behind Sir Dragonet.

“It was a sound effort,” Pike said post-race.