Australia’s Rachel King will make her Shergar Cup debut at Ascot on Saturday, captaining ‘The Rest Of The World’ team alongside South Africa’s Rachel Venniker and Japan’s Nanako Fujita.
The British-born jockey moved to Australia in 2014 and enjoyed immediate success, winning Sydney's Champion Apprentice title in 2016/17 with eighty-eight winners. She achieved her first Group victory in 2023 aboard Mark Newnham's Lanciato in the Group 3 Newcastle Newmarket Handicap and followed up with a landmark Group 1 success in the Spring Champion Stakes for the same trainer. King has continued to make her presence felt in the top echelons of Australian racing, with four further Group 1 victories, including the Coolmore Stud Stakes with Ozzmosis.
"The opportunities I've had since going to Australia have been huge and I've worked hard for them, but I've definitely been repaid and to have the five Group 1s by my name is something I'm very proud of," said King.
"I think the Sydney jockey's room is known for being probably one of the toughest in the world. It's very competitive.
"It's hard to hold your spot there every week. You see jockeys come and go and you see very successful jockeys that can't stay there. But it's something that I really enjoy and it helps me stay focused, and just want to keep improving and getting better."
International travel has been key to King's improvement in the saddle and she enjoyed another successful stint in Japan at the start of 2024, winning the Grade 2 American Jockey Club Cup aboard Chuck Nate for trainer Noriyuki Hori.
"Japan was an incredible experience. It was very different being there for a couple of months. The breeding of their horses and the standard of their stock is very high.
"They're probably a little bit different from Australia. They breed a lot more sort of middle distance horses so that's what a lot of races are, but I do enjoy those kind of races. It was great to learn, I think it helped me improve as a jockey and helped my riding for the future."
It will be the second trip King has made to Ascot this year, having taken time from her honeymoon to finish second aboard Strutting in the Sandringham Handicap during the Royal meeting in June. Whilst the differences between racing in Australia and the UK may be noticeable, King continues to reap the benefits from her varied experiences.
"It is quite different, but I've been lucky enough to travel a lot in the last twelve months and I think doing that helps because it helps me learn to adapt quickly and that's something I try and do as best I can.
"Even owners and trainers take note of that in the future - if they're going to put you on horses, [it helps] that you can adapt to different ways of racing when you go to different countries. I watch enough of the racing here that hopefully I can adapt well and I think having that close second at Royal Ascot will definitely help as well."
With five rides across the six-race card during Saturday's Shergar Cup, King will be hoping to lead the 'Rest Of The World' team to victory against stiff competition – including Shergar Cup stalwart Hayley Turner, who will captain the 'Ladies'.
Points are awarded to the first five horses home in each of the races and the team with the highest score at the end of the meeting will lift the Shergar Cup trophy. For the first time in Shergar Cup history, half of the twelve jockeys will be female and King is excited for the challenge.
"The Shergar Cup is getting bigger and bigger every year and I think it's great this year that they're doing a fifty-fifty split with the girls and boys. It's definitely a meeting that I think a lot of jockeys worldwide know about and if you get the opportunity to come and have a go and ride on one of the teams, it's something people around the world are keen to do.
"I'm definitely a very competitive person and I will be searching for every way possible I can win on all of them. I think I think most jockeys will be in the same boat. I'll be having a good look and trying to find any little sort of advantage I can for each of my rides."
