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Sydney jockey Rachel King wondered if she would make it to Caulfield in time for her ride on Arapaho in the Zipping Classic.
King was forced to miss two of her previous trips on the Caulfield card after being stranded in Sydney on Saturday due to flight delays due to bad weather.
She eventually landed in Melbourne and made a quick trip from Tullamarine Airport to Caulfield in time for the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes, in which she partnered Earlswood.
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It was the perfect warm-up for the Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) as King gave the Bjorn Baker-trained Arapaho a perfect steer to win the weight-for-age race.
Sent off the $4.40 favourite, Arapaho proved too strong for Smokin’ Romans ($15), scoring a three-quarter length victory over Berkeley Square ($5.50) another 4-¾ lengths third.
“There were delays going in and out of Sydney and we were about three hours late,” King said.
“I had plenty of time to get here for my first couple but unfortunately I ended up missing them but I knew it would be worth it when I got here.
“I have to apologize for the links on the first pair, I missed them, but I had a chance to go around the track beforehand and it went well and gave me a bit of a warm-up before the 2400m. “
King has had a long and successful relationship with Arapaho, winning the Canberra Cup and the Group 1 Tancred Stakes in 2023. on board the remaining one.
“He’s a dream, but I can’t take a lot of credit for that,” King said.
“He’s the same in good, soft, hard, and I wish all horses were like him.
“He has the biggest heart and today was very special as we lost one of his owners not too long ago and we had his funeral this week so I think Grifo (Paul Griffin) pushed us over the line today.”
Luke Hilton, deputizing for Baker, who was in Perth to saddle Overpass in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes, said Arapahoe was a special horse for the stable.
Hilton said Arapahoe had struggled to reach top form, but a gallop on Tuesday boosted the stable’s confidence.
“Bjorn said to me, ‘I’ve never had a stayer or him work like he did on a Tuesday,'” Hilton said.
“We came in full of confidence, the track was obviously a bit of a question, so it was a really good result and he came back.”
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