[PHOTO: Western Racepix]
In-form gelding Oly’s Choice brought up back-to-back victories at Ascot on Saturday when scoring an effortless win in the OBAN Group Handicap (1600m).
Despite having the ninth run of an incredibly consistent campaign, the Demerit five-year-old showed no signs of tapering off when getting crunched into $1.90 favouritism prior to the jump and finishing brilliantly under William Pike again.
The champion jockey settled the big bay three pairs back on the fence from barrier two before navigating a clear passage turning for home and hitting the lead passing the 100m mark and then pulling late to win by one-and-a-half lengths.
Sisu Warrior ($12) finished second, with Knot Secret ($11) a short neck away in third place.
Oly’s Choice has now had 24 career starts for six wins, six minor placings and $269,750 in stake earnings and Westspeed Platinum bonuses.
The win was Pearce Racing’s 62nd for the 2023/24 season to date – the second tightest tally in WA.
Meanwhile, the stable has a big team of eight runners engaged at Northam’s opening meeting on Sunday – highlighted by Let’s Galahvant and Ginger Baker in the $200,000 Group 3 TABtouch Northam Stakes (1300m).