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Rachel King will forgo rides at two of Australia’s richest meetings in a bid to chase history next month, skipping Victoria Derby Day at Flemington and Golden Eagle Day at Rosehill to instead ride at the Breeders’ Cup meeting in the United States.

King will become the first ever Australian resident to ride at the unofficial world championships in its 40-year history when she partners the Noriyuki Hori-trained Satono Carnaval in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (1m) at Del Mar on November 1.

By doing so, she will miss the chance to defend her title in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington, having won the race on Bjorn Baker’s Ozzmosis last year. 

Satono Carnaval, a well-bred two-year-old colt by Kitasan Black, will become Hori’s first American runner as well. Hori is no stranger to travelling though, having won five Group 1 races in Hong Kong with Maurice, Neorealism and Satono Crown, as well as the George Ryder Stakes in Australia with Real Impact. 

Satono Carnaval
SATONO CARNAVAL, DAMIAN LANE / Newcomer // Tokyo /// 2024 //// Photo by @BLACK_t027Uma

His record outside of Japan, all at Group 1 or Group 2 level between Australia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reads 27 starters for six wins, five seconds, seven thirds and two fourths.

Satono Carnaval is among a record contingent of 19 runners heading from Japan to California. He is the only runner scheduled for the Juvenile Turf over a mile, but is one of six two-year-olds heading to the meeting.

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf is programmed as the final race on Future Stars Friday on the opening day of the two-day meeting, which will be staged at Del Mar for the third time. The race is scheduled for 5:25pm local time, which will be 11:25am on Saturday morning in Sydney and Melbourne – just an hour before the opening contest at Flemington and Rosehill, meaning she cannot ride in Australia that day.

However, King will be able to join jockeys like Ryan Moore (Jan Brueghel) and William Buick (Vauban), who will fly from California in order to ride in the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November. She is slated to ride Brisbane Cup winner Alegron for Baker.

The 34-year-old, born in the United Kingdom but based in Australia since 2015, came to prominence in Japan last year when she was just pipped to the World All-Star Jockeys title in Sapporo. 

Rachel King and Ozzmosis
RACHEL KING, OZZMOSIS / G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes // Flemington /// 2023 //// Photo by Reg Ryan

She returned to the country for a short-term licence earlier this year, with 16 wins and 29 placings from 139 rides. That included two stakes wins in the G2 American Jockey Club Cup (2200m) on Chuck Nate and the G3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai (1600m) on Sakura Toujours, both for Hori.

Satono Carnaval won on debut over the Tokyo 1400m in June for another Australian rider, Damian Lane, racing clear to score by seven lengths. Dropped back to 1200m for his second start in the G3 Hakodate Nisai Stakes, he stretched out late for an impressive victory under Daisuke Sasaki ∎

Andrew Hawkins is the Idol Horse Globetrotter. Andrew’s deep passion for international racing has taken him to all corners of the world, including Hong Kong, where he was based for five years. He has worked with media outlets including South China Morning Post, Racing Post, ANZ Bloodstock News, Sky Racing Australia and World Horse Racing, as well as for organisations including the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Victoria Racing Club.

View all articles by Andrew Hawkins.

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