Western Empire again claimed the second leg of an elusive winter treble when saluting in the Group 3 $200,000 PKF Perth Hyperion Stakes (1600m) at Belmont in a typical William Pike final-stride success.

After market danger Rope Them In ($2.90) delivered a surprise go-forward move which almost paid dividends a fortnight earlier in the Belmont Sprint, this time it was Western Empire’s ($2.05f) turn to spring a tactical turn-up.

Racing keenly, the rising nine-year-old flashed around the outside to sit in second place, a length outside Hoba West ($41) with Rope Them In on their tails.

“I’d like to say it was a real clever piece of tactical riding where I did my form, I banged him out and took control of the race but in all honesty, it was the horse,” Pike said.

“He had a fire in his belly today and I had to go with it. He’s not a horse you argue with and lucky for me, we got away with it.”

Hoba West was clicked up by Austin Galati from the 600m and dashed two lengths of Western Empire. However, Pike remained unruffled on the market principal and allowed his charge to sit passively off the bold front-runner.

With 200m to go, though, Hoba West still had a length up his sleeve on Western Empire and Rope Them In, who was struggling to land a blow.

Under the determined drive of Pike, Western Empire was galvanised to get level with Hoba West in the shadows of the post and put his head down on the mirror, gaining a half-head margin in his favour.

Pike conceded he feared the worst when the Ifraaj gelding was overdoing it and left exposed without a horse to follow.

“At the time, I was pretty worried,” he said.

“He is much more effective with cover, but he just jumped so fast. He was a lot more fired up than first-up; I think the first run woke him up a bit.

“I thought there was a slight chance I might be able to get cover. I couldn’t.

“I did say to the ownership group that I would rather be wide without cover than following a couple of the other runners; I didn’t think they’d suit my horse’s style.

“Turned out, I was outside the leader, which on one hand I wasn’t too worried about but at the same time, he wasn’t really settled, so I was worried about that.

“It told on me late. If he settled better, he would have run through the line better but I’m just lucky he’s got a bit of class on his side.”

Despite his best form being on good-rated tracks, Western Empire brushed aside any concerns the damp surface would dull his class edge.

“I’ll back these horses rain, hail or shine,” Pike said.

“I was actually hoping the rain might come and it would negate my bad barrier a bit but as it all turned out, it didn’t matter.”

Western Empire now stares down the final leg of a winter trilogy having won both the Belmont Sprint and Hyperion Stakes leading into the Strickland Stakes in a fortnight’s time.

However, it has proven a stumbling block in recent years having won the 2024 Sprint and 2025 Hyperion before being a beaten favourite in the Strickland.

“It was an Achilles heel last year. Hopefully, we can go better this year,” Pike said.