Record-breaking Australian rider Jamie Kah eyeing 'dream' Royal Ascot debut

Have saddle, will travel is the mantra for most jockeys. For record-breaking Australian rider Jamie Kah it is no different, as she hopes to combine a summer trip to Europe with riding at Royal Ascot.

Kah became the first jockey to ride 100 winners in metropolitan Melbourne in a season last year and is on the lookout for mounts at the royal meeting, having experienced the Berkshire track for the first time when competing alongside Hayley Turner and Nanako Fujita as part of the Ladies team at the Shergar Cup in 2019.

Vega One’s victory in last year’s Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm means Kah holds the record for most top-level winners for a female rider in Australia at six, with the triumph coming two weeks on from the leading jockey steering her 1,000th winner.

Now she has set her sights on international success and says it has always been a dream to ride at the world-renowned event which runs from June 14 to 18 this year.

Kah, 26, said: “I’m planning to come over for Royal Ascot – it’s always been a dream of mine to go there to watch but now it’s probably a reality to ride there. I’m going for the week then having a well-deserved European trip including possibly Croatia, visiting family in Amsterdam and maybe going on a girls winery tour around the champagne region in France.

“It was fantastic to ride at the Shergar Cup a few years back – the people were lovely, it’s a beautiful track and it was a privilege to be involved, so I’d love to head back.

“It would be a dream to ride a winner at Ascot, it’s such a historic course and you’re riding against the best jockeys and horses from around the country. My manager [Lachie Weekley] has a few rides in the mix for the meeting but obviously there’s a lot to play out until June.”

Nature Strip (left): finished second to Home Affairs in the Flemington Stakes in FebruaryCredit: Reg Ryan

Should circumstances play out favourably, Kah potentially could be in contention to ride top-class Australian sprinter Nature Strip in the King’s Stand or Platinum Jubilee if regular rider James MacDonald is committed to riding the Chris Waller-trained stablemate Home Affairs in the same race.

Kah won the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes on Nature Strip at Flemington last year and finished a short-head second to Home Affairs in this year’s running, while she also landed the All-Star Mile on the Annabel Neasham-trained Zaaki in March, who could be considered for the Queen Anne.

Kah said: “I’d be putting my hand up for the ride on Nature Strip if he was to come over and there’s a few things to play out until then – and that’s if James [MacDonald] has other commitments with Coolmore – but I’d be more than happy to get the call-up anytime he races.

“He'd be a fantastic ride at Ascot like he is probably in any race in the world. He’s very versatile and earned the title of best sprinter in the world – he’s a champion.”

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