Rachel King

Rachel King
Rachel King at the paddock of the February Stakes in 2024
OccupationJockey
Born (1990-07-31) 31 July 1990 (age 34)[1]
Waterperry, South Oxfordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Height155 cm (5 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight50 kg (110 lb)[1]

Rachel King (born 31 July 1990) is a Group 1 winning British jockey based in Australia.[1]

Background

King was born in Waterperry near Oxford.[2] Her father, Chris, was a fishmonger and amateur jockey and trainer who rode in point-to-points.[2][3] While at school, she had a holiday job in the yard of trainer Mick Channon.[3] After leaving school, she worked in the yard of dual-purpose trainer Alan King, where she had a few rides as an amateur jockey on the flat and over hurdles.[3] Her first win was in a point-to-point on Lady De Paris in 2007 at Tweseldown Racecourse.[1] After a brief apprenticeship to Mark Usher, she returned to amateur riding, spending three years as secretary and work rider to Clive Cox in Lambourn and winning a few races.[3]

Career in Australia

In 2014, King went to Sydney, Australia, for a working holiday. After spending two months at the yard of James and Bart Cummings, she decided to stay in Australia and became an apprentice for trainer Gai Waterhouse, riding her first winner in 2015 and claimed the 2016/17 Sydney Champion Apprentice title with 88 wins.[2]

King's first Group race success came in March 2018, when Lanciato, trained by Mark Newnham, won the Group 3 Newcastle Newmarket Handicap. This was followed in October 2018 by her first Group 1 win, riding Maid Of Heaven for Newnham in the Spring Champion Stakes.[4]

King was invited to Japan in August 2023 to represent Australia in the annual World All-star Jockeys Championship [ja]. She finished in second place, one point behind Japanese jockey Mirai Iwata.[5] On 4 November 2023, she secured her fifth Group 1 win, riding Ozzmosis for Bjorn Baker in the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne.

King returned to Japan in January 2024 for two months after being granted a short-term license, sponsored by trainer Noriyuki Hori. On 21 January, King won the Grade 2 American Jockey Club Cup on Chuck Nate [ja] for Hori, making her the first foreign female jockey to win a graded flat race in Japan.[a][6] She went on to win the Grade 3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai on Sakura Toujours for Hori.[4] In all, she won 16 races in Japan.[7]

Major wins

Australia Australia

Footnotes

  1. ^ The first foreign female jockey to win a graded race in Japan was Rochelle Lockett who won the Group 1 Nakayama Daishogai over fences with Gilded Age in 2002.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "For the love of the horse" (PDF). Australian Turf Club. 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Rachel King". Hong Kong Jockey Club. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Rachel King: 'I came to Sydney for two months. I've been here six years – quite a holiday'". The Telegraph. 17 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Rachel King". Racing Post. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Silver for King in Japan". Racing.com. 28 August 2023.
  6. ^ "King the queen of Japan". Racing.com. 22 January 2024.
  7. ^ "'It's going to be full on' - star jockey Rachel King heading home from Australia to get married and ride at Royal Ascot". Racing Post. 28 May 2024.
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