Rachel King creates racing history in Canberra Cup - all over again

She was the first female jockey to win the Black Opal Stakes last year. And she became the first female jockey to win the Canberra Cup this year.

And she did it easily, with Arapaho flying home to salute in the $200,000 listed race at Thoroughbred Park on Monday.

With the win still sinking in, King was still unsure which was better - winning the Cup or the Opal.

They were both special wins for different reasons.

She rode Arapaho to 11^th in last year's Melbourne Cup and she was back on board to cruise to victory in Canberra.

Explosive Jack was a length and a half further back in second, while last year's Cup winner Sacramento was another length back in third - the latter unable to become just the fifth horse to win back-to-back Canberra Cups.

Instead, this year belonged to King and Arapaho as the first three finished in order of the numbers on their backs.

"I don't know, I hope so," King said when told she was the first female jockey to win the Canberra Cup.

"I got the Opal last year so it was nice to be able to get the Cup this year.

"All of us Sydney jockeys love coming down here for the Canberra Carnival.

"It's a lovely big track, every horse gets their chance. You've got the Black Opal leading up with the [Golden] Slipper horses and this Canberra Cup always seems to produce a nice horse as well.

"It's definitely one where we're keen to try and get to - and not too far away from Sydney.

"I think I was [the first female to win the Opal] - making history in Canberra."

Her win on Queen Of The Ball in last year's Black Opal was special because she went on to ride him in the Golden Slipper - the world's richest race for two-year-olds.

Then she was onboard Arapaho in last year's Melbourne Cup, for which she lauded trainer Bjorn Baker for taking a horse that was struggling in the Tamworth Cup all the way to the race that stops a nation.

How to split them apart? That's a tough one.

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"I don't know yet. They've both been special because they've both been with horses I've had a lot to do with," King said.

"Last year was Queen Of The Ball and I ended up riding her in a Slipper.

"And this bloke I ended up riding him in the Melbourne Cup.

"They're both very special for different reasons."

And "this bloke"? How about him?

She was confident of taking home the horse biscuits with about 600 metres to go as Sacramento led the field into the home straight.

Athabascan had led early and loomed up again in the straight, but then Arapaho blew straight by the lot of them.

And he did it as the topweight with 59 kilograms on his back.

"He gave me a lot of confidence from the 600m, sort of bolting in behind them," King said.

"He hit the front and pricked his ears and really toyed with them today. He's a much different horse this prep.

"He's not a big horse and had to carry a big weight and do it the hard way, but obviously a horse with a heart like him is super tough."

Canberra Racing chief executive Darren Pearce was happy with his first Canberra Carnival, with the total crowd figure over the two days getting past his goal of 10,000.

It was a more laidback Canberra Cup - compared with the party atmosphere of Sunday's Black Opal - with the family feel bringing in 2931 to end the carnival.

But Pearce was hopeful of bigger and better things going forward.

"It's been an experiment with the [Hall] markets. It's been better than last year," he said.

"The two days combined have got us over our 10,000 target, which I'm pleased with.

"But I still think there's room for improvement.

"After the carnival we'll do a full debrief, take the learnings and go forward."

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