Iknowastar reigns supreme with a bold frontrunning ride from jockey Rachel King

Jockey Rachel King produced another perfectly judged frontrunning ride to help Iknowastar end a run of minor placings at Randwick.

Rachel King guides Iknowastar to a breakthrough win at Randwick. Picture: Getty Images

Bold frontrunner Iknowastar ended a frustrating run of near misses when saluting in the only way he knows how at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding thrived out in front on the back of Pride Of Jenni-like tactics to win the Fujitsu Airstage Benchmark 94 Handicap (1600m).

Iknowastar had led the field up in all three starts this preparation prior to his success before getting run over late to finish among the placings.

Jockey Rachel King ensured that wouldn’t be the case this time around with a well-judged ride on speed.

She had Iknowastar three lengths clear of his nearest rival as the field began the turn for home and the son of Star Witness was able to sustain the gallop to win.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A five star win!

Iknowastar leads all the way at Randwick, giving @RachelK11 a double!@[e-mail]/0uj4oiEWKe

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 25, 2024

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“He has done a remarkable job and it was a beautiful ride by Rachel, she just got him in a lovely rhythm,” Baker said.

“He able to control and just had a little bit more luck than his last three so I am absolutely thrilled.

“He looked great, the team at home have done a remarkable job with him and he’s great fun.”

King, who had led all the way to win on Invincible Spy just over an hour earlier, had the race won a long way from home after hitting the front inside the first 50m.

Iknowastar ($3) continued to respond to King’s urgings to score comfortably by two and a quarter-lengths from the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Williamsburg ($14) with Brad Widdup’s Ruby Flyer ($2.70) making up ground from the back to finish third.

“He is very tough and is a lovely horse to ride,” King said.

“He just gets out there and does his thing. He takes that 50m out of the gate to get into gear and then just sit there and enjoy him.

“If he can get a little rest before 900m or 800m then from there you can naturally let him build.

“He never feels like he is going that fast up the straight but they just can’t get him.”

Iknowastar has an amazing winning strike rate of close to 50% with nine victories from 20 starts in his career to date.

The four-year-old gelding was a placegetter in the $500,000 The Coast earlier this preparation and has now banked close to $400,000 in prizemoney.

Baker is confident he can continue to raise the bar with the improving Iknowastar.

Originally published as Iknowastar reigns supreme with a bold frontrunning ride from jockey Rachel King