Hong Kong Jockey Club Photo
Rachel King Will Become First Australian-Based Jockey To Ride At Breeders' Cup
The last time the Breeders' Cup was held at Del Mar in 2021, Japan found its first World Championships winners in both Loves Only You (Filly & Mare Turf) and Marche Lorraine (Distaff). This year's 19-strong Japanese contingent will be the largest to try the Breeders' Cup yet, but one horse brings an international flavor all his own.
Satono Carnaval, expected to pre-enter in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, will give jockey Rachel King the chance to become the first Australian-based rider to have a mount at the World Championships. The rider announced the news via Twitter on Monday.
King first rode in Japan in the All-Star Jockeys Cup in 2023, finishing second. She went back to Japan earlier this year, earning 16 wins and 29 placings from 139 rides, according to ttrausnz.com.au. She won two Group races, both for Satono Carnaval's trainer Noriyuki Hori, which made her the first female jockey to win a Group race on the flat in Japan.
“I was very lucky to be connected with Mr. Hori and his owners, I got amazing opportunities," King told ttrausnz.com.au. "He really backed me the whole time I was there and he threw me on literally everything he had, so it was a really amazing experience to get that support for the first time going over there.”
Though she'll not have ridden Satono Carnaval yet, King has watched the colt's two races, both victories.
"He looks pretty smart and Mr. Hori is pretty shrewd in what he does,” King told ttrausnz.com.au. “His record travelling his horses is unbelievable - he’s not going to run second or third, he’s going to win.”
Read more at ttrausnz.com.au.
