Reigning Sydney Cup winner Arapaho is likely to miss the bulk of the Sydney autumn carnival after suffering an early campaign setback.
The nine-year-old had a foot abscess that delayed his reappearance, only stepping out for his first barrier trial at Randwick on Thursday.
Regular jockey Rachel King has a close affinity with the Bjorn Baker-trained gelding, who she partnered to his Sydney Cup victory, and says despite the slight delay to his preparation the horse is in a great frame of mind.
“He looks as fresh and well as ever,” King said.
“He’s pulling his way around like a two-year-old every day. He’s like Peter Pan, he doesn’t get older.”
Arapaho, who hasn’t raced since finishing midfield in the Melbourne Cup, had two runs under his belt at the corresponding time last year.
King concedes the extra time taken to rectify the foot issue will mean he has a limited autumn in Sydney, but she is hopeful he can make a mark in Queensland.
“He might miss some of these main races at carnival time, but we’ve got Brisbane as well. There is no rush,” she said.
“He might end up being more at the back end of the carnival here, and then Brisbane.”
King herself is only weeks into her Sydney return following another successful riding experience in Japan, which even included one meeting being delayed due to snow.
The top jockey said the highlight of the trip was riding Darlinghurst, a half-sister of international superstar Forever Young.
“I got to ride Forever Young’s little sister. She won earlier in the day, and he won on the Saturday night, so that was cool, getting to ride horses like that,” King said.
“I ended up with sixteen winners in a month and a couple of stakes winners.
“There were two weekends where I rode five winners each weekend, so it was another successful trip.”
She has wasted little time hitting the ground running in Sydney with a double at Warwick Farm on Wednesday parlayed into a Midway Handicap win aboard Zenmaster at Randwick on Saturday.
