Rachel King makes Caulfield Guineas history aboard Warwoven

Rachel King became the first female jockey to win the Caulfield Guineas on October 10, guiding Bjorn Baker’s Warwoven to victory. The Group 1 success strengthened the colt’s prospects of a Cox Plate appearance.

The Guineas was run over 1600 metres for A$3 million. King waited until the turn into the straight before Warwoven moved past Blind Raise. Stable representative Luke Hilton praised her patient handling of the race.

King, 36, moved from Britain to Australia on a working holiday in 2014 and established a successful partnership with Sydney-based, New Zealand-born trainer Baker. The victory took her Group 1 tally to ten.

Warwoven subsequently became one of the leading contenders for the A$6 million Cox Plate, which will be staged at Flemington for the first time this year. If King wins it, she will become the first female jockey to do so. That milestone remains a possibility rather than an accomplished result.

King said she believes Warwoven still has improvement ahead. Hilton also noted that Baker had long regarded the colt as unusually talented. Warwoven is by Sword Of State out of Needle And Thread.

Elsewhere on the card, Ethan Brown guided Land Legend to an unexpected victory in the 2000-metre Group 1 Might And Power Stakes. The seven-year-old gelding, trained by Ciaron Maher, narrowly beat favourite Sheza Alibi after going about two years without a win.

Sheza Alibi’s trainer Peter Moody said the team would reassess preparations for the 1500-metre Golden Eagle in Sydney on October 31. He said the intended tactic of following Birdman into the race had not worked, while the winning time was a course record.

Maher was weighing Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate options for Land Legend without announcing a final decision. He cautioned that the contest for position before the Caulfield Cup’s first turn might not suit the gelding.

James McDonald added another Group 1 victory to the afternoon by winning the 1600-metre Toorak Handicap on Chris Waller’s Lady Shenandoah ahead of Changing Colours. The card therefore produced several results affecting plans for the remainder of the spring racing season.