Jamie Kah set to defy 80 years of history in Caulfield Cup
Jamie Kah will ride Valiant King in the Caulfield Cup.
Jockey Jamie Kah will need to overcome more than 80 years of history to win Saturday's Caulfield Cup on a horse she has never ridden.
Velocity in 1941 was the last horse to win a Caulfield Cup from barrier one.
Kah's mount, Irish stayer Valiant King, came up with the inside gate in Wednesday's barrier draw.
TAB trimmed Valiant King's price from $21 to $18 on Wednesday.
Kah said she has not been called to Werribee to ride the Joseph O'Brien-trained Valiant King in trackwork despite being booked to ride the horse some weeks ago.
"They haven't asked me to go down there yet but they do like to keep to their routine," Kah said.
Jamie Kah and Mick Price after winning the Evergreen Turf Handicap at Ladbrokes Park Hillside Racecourse on October 01, 2023 in Springvale, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images)
"They have great people with him so they didn't need me in the end."
Kah will only have a few minutes to get a feel for Valiant King before the pair chases $5m prizemoney in the Caulfield Cup.
"He looks in his races like he's a pretty simple horse to ride but 100m from here (the mounting yard) to the gates to work out how he's feeling," she said.
Kah will face enormous pressure from the outside to hold her position in the short and sometimes rough run to the first turn, where Caulfield Cups are often won or lost.
"It's not my favourite gate but it's better than drawing outside I guess," Kah said.
"He's a pretty simple horse to ride, I think, so hopefully get a nice run early."
Valiant King's stablemate Okita Soushi drew barrier 12 and will have the services of three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy.
Valiant King at Werribee.
McEvoy will chase his second Caulfield Cup triumph after winning in 2008 with Godolphin galloper All The Good.
English galloper West Wind Blows, who ran a solid second in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at his Australian debut, will start from barrier two with international rider Jamie Spencer aboard.
Off the mark ????
Valiant King, a son of the much-missed Roaring Lion, readily does the business at the fourth time of asking to shed the maiden tag in the finale at @NavanRacecourse@Qatar_Racing | @JosephOBrien2pic.twitter.com/XWzfahdXKL
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 13, 2023
West Wind Blows was solid in betting at $6.50 after the draw.
Breakup has barrier five although jockey Damian Lane said Japanese stayers often preferred drawing wider.
"I said this morning that I would prefer to draw wide. But you take good draws when you get them," he said.
"Going on Japanese horses that I've ridden, generally you can take your time a little bit more and assess the pace of the race.
You can assess the speed and decide whether to go forward or back.
"Barrier five might not give me that opportunity."
Breakup is the third pick in TAB's Caulfield Cup market at $8.50.
