Thanks largely to her ability to ride at a featherweight, Rachel King is one of Sydney’s busiest jockeys. When acceptances were declared for last Saturday’s Rosehill meeting she’d been locked in for a whopping nine rides. She finished up with eight when Border Control was scratched from the Midway. Rachel had ridden at Hawkesbury on Thursday, and at the Randwick trials on Tuesday of last week. Throw in a couple of trackwork sessions and you can see she spent much of the week in the saddle.
Most jockeys in the same situation would have been desperate for a Sunday morning sleep in, and a break from horses. Rachel King opted for neither. The English born jockey and passionate horse lover, was on the road early with her former racehorse Paths Of Glory bound for a showjumping competition at Mangrove Mountain on the Central Coast. “He’s still learning and probably doesn’t get as much practice as he needs, but is improving all the time,” said Rachel. “He went clear in his first round on Sunday over one metre jumps, but collected a couple of rails on his second round. He enjoys every moment of it and I’m confident he’ll make a lovely jumper in time.”
Rachel connected with the English import the first time she rode him in a race. Even though Paths Of Glory finished well back in the listed McKell Cup at Rosehill in June of 2020, the jockey fell in love with the grey son of Mastercraftsman. “By the time I got to the barrier I knew he had the makings of a special horse after racing,” said Rachel. “After discussing the race with Richard Freedman I put up my hand to give the horse a home when his racing days were over. Over the next twelve months I reminded Richard many times, and pleaded with him to let me ride the horse again.”
Three weeks later Rachel rode him closer to the lead to win a BM94 on the Kensington track, and the love affair was gathering momentum. The gelding didn’t race again for some six weeks or more but was kept up to the mark with a soft trial at Warwick Farm. In early September he came from last to win the listed Wyong Cup courtesy of a natty ride from Rachel who found a narrow opening in the straight to beat The Lord Mayor and Hush Writer. The jockey later won the Gr 3 JRA Plate on her favourite horse, by which time Richard Freedman had convinced owners the China Horse Club Pty Ltd, that Rachel should have him when his racing days were over. Paths Of Glory would have only two more starts during the Brisbane winter carnival, and he actually went out with a good fourth in the inaugural Q22. Craig Williams was his jockey in that final appearance.
Rachel brought Paths Of Glory from last to win the 2020 Wyong Cup. She loved the horse from the moment she first sat on his back - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The gelding now has the run of the Freeman’s Reach property shared by Rachel and her partner Luke Hilton, Racing Manager for Bjorn Baker Racing. “We’ve built stables and yards since moving in, and I can tell you Paths Of Glory has accommodation befitting a Gr 3 Randwick winner,” said his proud owner. “He’s already showing signs of a grass belly. I’ll have to step his work up.”
Paths Of Glory would be miffed to learn that another European gelding is currently vying for Rachel’s affections. The brilliant lightweight jockey has ridden Arapaho in eleven of his twenty four Australian starts for four black type wins culminating in a Gr 1 triumph in Saturday’s Tancred Stakes at Rosehill. It was a moment of great relief for trainer Bjorn Baker who a year ago had despaired of Arapaho even getting close to recouping his hefty European purchase price. The son of Lope De Vega was offered by Coolmore at the 2020 Arqana Deauville Sale after winning a 3YO stakes race at Longchamps for trainer Andre Fabre. He was knocked down to the Bjorn Baker Racing/ Avenue Bloodstock/ Clarke Bloodstock conglomerate for the equivalent of $227,000 Aussie dollars.
The gelding took a long time to acclimatise. He registered only one placing in his first eight Australian starts and that was in the Muswellbrook Cup behind Regal Stage. At his very next start he looked anything but a Gr 1 winner when he finished a distant last in the Tamworth Cup, after which jockey Ashley Morgan informed stewards the horse seemed reluctant to stretch out on the very firm track. The transformation since then has been spectacular. He finally broke through with a BM78 win at Rosehill with Dylan Gibbons on board and has raced consistently ever since.
He followed a second in the Caloundra Cup with an easy win in the Grafton Cup ridden for the first time by Rachel King, who hasn’t let him out of her sight since. Two starts after the Grafton Cup he won the Gr 3 Premiers Cup at Randwick. Then followed placings in the City Tatts and Newcastle Cups before a midfield finish in the Metropolitan and a good second to Stockman in the St Leger. His form was good enough to gain him a start in the Melbourne Cup in which he was far from disgraced in finishing eleventh of twenty two. The spelling paddock beckoned.
On resuming he finished out of a place in both the Apollo and Chipping Norton Stakes but within respectable distance of champion Anamoe. He then had the Canberra Cup won a long way from home. Another flawless Rachel King ride saw Arapaho in the one out one back spot most of the way before easing four deep at the top of the straight. He dashed clear to comfortably account for Explosive Jack and Athabascan. The most surprising feature of his win was the $3.80 on offer.
Arapaho was never going to get beaten in the Canberra Cup 13/03/2023 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Rachel warmed up for her Tancred Stakes appearance on Saturday with a soft win on Bacchanalia in the Gr 3 Star Kingdom Stakes. “I hadn’t ridden him for eighteen months and I’d forgotten what a push button horse he is,” said the jockey. “He just jumped fast and travelled perfectly in the one out one back spot to the turn. It took me a little while to nudge into the clear before he could lengthen. He didn’t win by any fancy margin, but never stopped trying right to the line. I’d be surprised if there isn’t another stakes win in Bacchanalia.”
Rachel’s ride on Arapaho in the 2400m Tancred Stakes ticked all boxes. She was in fifth spot on the fence at the winning post the first time and had the import travelling sweetly throughout. She adroitly eased into a one out spot at the 600m and was reasonably confident of victory on straightening for home. “He hadn’t spent a dollar from barrier rise and I felt his turn of foot would take him past the four horses in front of him,” said Rachel. “I could hear something coming pretty quickly and I was relieved to see the winning post. Montefilia was obviously great in finishing second after blundering just before the turn. Arapaho’s ability to relax, and that sharp dash will bring him right into Sydney Cup calculations.”
Arapaho gets his Gr. 1! A perfect Rachel King ride got him home over Montefilia in the Tancred Stakes - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
What a journey it’s been for the little girl from Oxford who first visited Australia on a working holiday ten years ago. She immediately landed a job as a trackwork rider for the Anthony and James Cummings training duo and was here just long enough to fall in love with Australian racing and the city of Sydney. She went home to put her affairs in order before returning to Sydney where an apprenticeship with Gai Waterhouse awaited. It’s now history that the tiny Britisher spent the first full year of her apprenticeship doing nothing but menial stable chores. Gai initially tried to talk her out of becoming a jockey, but started to provide trial rides when she realised Rachel was deadly serious about a riding future.
Fast forward to March of 2015 when Muswellbrook trainer Mark Schmetzer offered her the ride on Run Cannon Run in a BM60 at Tamworth. By this time Rachel had acquired a car and somehow got herself to Tamworth 400km away. “It was pretty scary,” she recalled. “I had no idea where I was going. I just followed the road signs and next thing I’m sitting in the Tamworth lady jockey’s room. I must have transferred my adrenaline rush to Run Cannon Run because he flew out of the inside gate and quickly led. A horse ridden by Mitchell Bell got pretty close to me on the line with the others a mile back. If a win at your first Australian ride isn’t enough to fire you up I don’t know what is. I’ve never forgotten Mark Schmetzer’s kindness.”
Rachel's first win in Australia and her first as a professional jockey. She led throughout to win on Run Cannon Run at Tamworth 12/03/2015 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Her first city win came twenty months later, under trying circumstances. She’d won consecutive races at Kembla and Newcastle on a gelding called Raijinz and trainer Jarrod Austin was very keen to use her again in a night race at Canterbury. Gai Waterhouse was adamant that she was not to ride in the city until her provincial claim had expired, but Rachel’s persistence finally wore her down. “This was an occasion I’ll remember forever,” says Rachel. “After winning that battle with Gai I was offered another ride by Newcastle trainer Ben Smith on a mare called In Her Time who goes down as my first metropolitan winner. She finished up winning $3.7 million and later made $2 million dollars at a broodmare sale. I was lucky enough to ride her in a BM75. Raijinz won later in the night to complete my fairy tale.”
Rachel’s emergence as a very serious jockey was nothing short of spectacular. Her first stakes win came on the Waterhouse trained Stampede in the 2017 Wagga Cup, while in the 2017/2018 season she joined some elite company when crowned champion Sydney apprentice. Just a few months after attaining that coveted title she was given an amazing opportunity by Mark Newnham who hadn’t long become a trainer in his own right. Mark had no hesitation in plumping for Rachel King as Maid of Heaven’s rider in the Gr 1 Spring Champion Stakes. His faith in the young jockey was vindicated in spades when Rachel showed cool headed precision in running, and great vigour in a tight finish to get the filly home narrowly over Godolphin’s Aramayo.
Rachel rode a copybook race to win her first Gr. 1 - the 2018 Spring Champion Stakes on Maid Of Heaven - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The jockey obviously hoped for a quick Group 1 follow up but she soon discovered those golden moments are frustratingly elusive. She’s ridden in numerous Gr 1’s since winning on Maid Of Heaven and was thrilled to get Anamoe into second place in the 2021 Golden Slipper, but winning another one seemed all but unachievable. Finally it came to pass a year ago when she rated Knight’s Order beautifully to score an all the way win in the Sydney Cup.
A skilful ride on Arapaho in the Tancred Stakes on Saturday brought up her third win at racing’s highest level. Rachel is hoping her stakes double at Rosehill Gardens will bring her under the notice of trainers with runners during The Championships. Apart from Arapaho in the Sydney Cup her only other firm Gr 1 booking is for the brilliant mare Shades of Rose in the T.J. Smith on Saturday. “I was more than happy with her first up run in The Galaxy on Slipper day,” said Rachel. “She had to do a power of work from a wide gate but was only 3.5 lengths behind Mariamia on the line. The run will have done her the world of good and she’ll be competitive in the T.J. Smith. All being well I’ll be making my first trip to Perth on April 15th to ride her in the $4 million dollar Quokka, Western Australia’s first ever slot race.”
It’s been an amazing journey for the little lady who grew up just a stone’s throw from the famous Oxford University some 90kms north west of London. Her interest in horses was inspired by her father Chris, a former amateur jumps rider. Rachel’s earliest passion revolved around showjumping, while she has indelible memories of the many occasions she and her dad rode out together on hunting excursions. It’s not widely known that Rachel tried her hand as an amateur jockey over jumps and on the flat, collectively winning twenty seven races. Is it any wonder she took to race riding so quickly in Australia, once Gai Waterhouse succumbed to her infectious enthusiasm.
Rachel’s first decade in this country has hurtled by. She’s barely had time to contemplate a record of close to 550 winners including three hard earned Gr 1’s and any number of stakes races. She’s ridden in an Everest, two Melbourne Cups and a couple of Golden Slippers. As she approaches her 33rd birthday the Rachel King package is complete - experience, style and professionalism. It will be no surprise if one of those iconic races drops into her lap sooner rather than later.
When Darren Beadman has advice to offer it pays to listen - Randwick 2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - The magic moment had arrived! Rachel returns to scale on her first city winner In Her Time at Canterbury 25/11/2016 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)