R King

Born in Waterperry, near Oxford, Rachel King’s father was an amateur jockey and trainer. She aspired to become a jockey from a young age and gained school holiday experience at Mick Channon’s stable. After graduating from school, she rode as an amateur rider for Alan King. In 2014, she moved to Australia and after working at Bart and James Cummings for two months, she became apprentice for Gai Waterhouse and won her first race in 2015. In her first season she notched a total of 17 wins in New South Wales in 2014/15, and at end of her 2016/17 campaign she claimed the Sydney Champion Apprentice title with 88 wins. Now a six-time Group 1-winning rider, King scored her first Group race win in 2017/18, when she partnered Lanciato to victory in the G3 Newcastle Newmarket Handicap. She then made a Group 1 breakthrough in the Spring Champion Stakes atop Maid Of Heaven for now Hong Kong-based trainer Mark Newnham. She won her second Group 1 aboard Knights Order in the 2022 Sydney Cup. In 2023 she finished runner-up in Japan’s World All-Star Jockeys. She has won more than 720 races worldwide, while in 2025 she became the first female jockey to win a Flat Group 1 race in Japan, landing the February Stakes with Costa Nova. Honours: Sydney Champion Apprentice (2016/17). IJC record: 2024 – 9th; 2023 – 3rd.