WA sportsperson of the YearWest Australian Racing

H-BOMBER

Surely W Pike needs to get a nomination here for his success in the sport. He is giving PR more and more coverage with his cult following across Australia and it would be a struggle to see anyone else more successful in their profession.

He needs to be nominated. 

And if you think "oh but he gets the pick of the rides, backed by states biggest owner blah blah blah etc" then get back in your box, because the success of his is borne out of hard work and skill. Otherwise he wouldn't be where he is today. 

DamienWyer

Agree with your statement but this is a very small sport by content, following and participation.

jum

DamienWyer said:

Agree with your statement but this is a very small sport by content, following and participation.

Fair suck of the sav Damo. in previous years winners have come from Pole Vaulting, Javelin and cycling. There was even a winner from canoeing in 2008.

Surely Racing has more Content, following and participation than those sports.

DamienWyer

Well I photograph a number of sports now, mostly non mainstream. Cycling gets a social media response maybe six times greater than horse racing. Boxing and in particular the fighter I work with and her coach, absolutely destroy both in terms of hits and impressions on social media. The one that surprised me was an AFLW player, I got reasonable response for that photo shoot but nothing outstanding.

On Facebook the Danny Miller photo shoot was very well supported, but I think the politics of that situation made it something a bit more than just another horse racing related shoot.

I'm photographing a basketball team of kids tomorrow, that will be a first.

GLAMOUR

What a pearler of a ride in the last,,coming between two others.bloody genius. Ok he gets the pick of the rides,,but still has to get them home,its just some of the places he comes from in the feild,you say no hope but what happens,

detonator

Pikes winning rides yesterday were masterclass.
They were talking Arcadia Queen for the KT after she won. Then they were lauding Galaxy Star.
At the end of the day after the last they were talking Pike.

JayJay

Agree entirely Bomber and Jum......precedence already set with both Phil Coulson and Lou Austin previous winners from the Racing Industry. It is not selected by the number of facebook likes that are recorded on a photographers page but on excellence in your chosen sport. If public response was a criteria, some of the previous winners wouldn't get a look in. With absolutely no disrespect to any previous winners, mentioning their names to the public would draw a blank response...... names like Robin Bell, Peter Dawson, Barbara Wall, Roslyn Fisher, Gaye Switch, Robert Scott, Ian Brown, Graham Lillingston, Peter Gilmour and Paul Burgess ......without Googling, what sports do they represent? Pike is a master at his chosen sport, and would be a very worthy nominee who would also have a high profile amongst the general sporting public. I used to like the old system where each month, a list of high achievers was published in the West Australian highlighting outstanding performance......but that was prior to the said paper becoming a cut and paste chip wrapper and a shadow of the once excellent source of news and sporting journalism.

paraletic

Should be nominated. He has no peer in his craft, its actually one way traffic.

brady

JayJay said:

Agree entirely Bomber and Jum......precedence already set with both Phil Coulson and Lou Austin previous winners from the Racing Industry. It is not selected by the number of facebook likes that are recorded on a photographers page but on excellence in your chosen sport. If public response was a criteria, some of the previous winners wouldn't get a look in. With absolutely no disrespect to any previous winners, mentioning their names to the public would draw a blank response...... names like Robin Bell, Peter Dawson, Barbara Wall, Roslyn Fisher, Gaye Switch, Robert Scott, Ian Brown, Graham Lillingston, Peter Gilmour and Paul Burgess ......without Googling, what sports do they represent? Pike is a master at his chosen sport, and would be a very worthy nominee who would also have a high profile amongst the general sporting public. I used to like the old system where each month, a list of high achievers was published in the West Australian highlighting outstanding performance......but that was prior to the said paper becoming a cut and paste chip wrapper and a shadow of the once excellent source of news and sporting journalism.

Well done Jay Jay
Agree With you entirely

RightOakAunt

H-BOMBER said:

Surely W Pike needs to get a nomination here for his success in the sport. He is giving PR more and more coverage with his cult following across Australia and it would be a struggle to see anyone else more successful in their profession.

He needs to be nominated. 

And if you think "oh but he gets the pick of the rides, backed by states biggest owner blah blah blah etc" then get back in your box, because the success of his is borne out of hard work and skill. Otherwise he wouldn't be where he is today. 

I reckon Damian Lane then is in with a shout just quietly

spinking

I disagree with that to a certain extent Para, while obviously top of the class I don't reckon it's all one way traffic. J.noske is a pretty good rider in my opinion who's weight restricts him a bit at the moment. C Parnham I reckon sits on good as well. And I reckon Bombers comment about he gets the pick of the best horses here. Comes into play a bit in saying it's all one way. In saying that though I reckon he is a natural inclusion on sports star of the year

hash

jum said:

DamienWyer said:

Agree with your statement but this is a very small sport by content, following and participation.

Fair suck of the sav Damo. in previous years winners have come from Pole Vaulting, Javelin and cycling. There was even a winner from canoeing in 2008.

Surely Racing has more Content, following and participation than those sports.

all winners mentioned come from a non punting non controversial sporting background, as much as we'd like to see it, it simply won't happen  

therealkramer

Just look at the race to 100 wins:

Pike 51

Moreira 3

spinking

Your new picture suits you to a tee. You are a joke. What has your dribble about the race to 100 got to do with a discussion about West Australian sport stars nominations, and West Australian jockey comparisons.

therealkramer

@spinking Pike's ratio of winners to Moreira's is 17:1. They must give him the award!

therealkramer

spinking said:

Your new picture suits you to a tee. You are a joke. What has your dribble about the race to 100 got to do with a discussion about West Australian sport stars nominations, and West Australian jockey comparisons.

Thankyou. My gf swears I'm not funny but I know I'm **** hilarious and I respect your opinion. No, I really do ;))

spinking

I am sure they will take that into account when assessing nominations

Dotard

Pike should be up for an Order of Australia Medal. Service to punters chasing an out in the last has been unparalleled!