Being a jockey comes naturally to Rachel King, but it didn't come easily.

The 26-year-old has found her way to Sydney Saturday meetings this month, riding doubles on the first two weekends of June.

She finally made a splash that was four years in the making, overcoming several hurdles.

What was a working holiday became the career King had dreamt about. She always wanted to be a jockey, riding 27 winners in England as an amateur on the flat and over the jumps. It didn't come easily.

Those 27 wins meant she would never have a three-kilogram claim in Australia as an apprentice and then came a seven-month break because of visa problems.

"All overseas wins are counted as city wins, so when I started it was with a two-kilo claim," King said. "I was getting going and I had the visa problem, so this is my first full season of riding over here.

"It is flowing well now and the hard work is worth it."

King had always been highly regarded at Tulloch Lodge before taking out her jockey licence.

"I rode trackwork for Gai [Waterhouse] for just over a year and did a bit of travelling for her," King said. "I did the Brisbane winter carnival when Cosmic Endeavour won the Tatts Tiara and went to America with Pornichet for her.

"So I did a lot of groundwork with Gai and then decided I wanted to give it a go as a jockey."

That plan hit a snag. Waterhouse didn't think it was the right career path for the English lass.

"She was actually quite keen for me to go in another direction ... she wanted me in admin," King said.

"Once I started [as a jockey] she was very supportive - she gave me the triallers to get my licence.

"Then she watched for a while what I could do in the country. She didn't give me a ride for a long time. She just sat back and watched.

"It was nearly a year before I had a winner for her, then it was another year until my second for her."

Indentured to the training team of Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, King realises she has the best of supporters but she had to earn her place in Australia.

She worked her way from the country to the provincials before being allowed to make her mark in the city.

"Gai wanted [King] to outride her country claim and provincial claim before she came to Sydney," Bott said. "She has worked hard and you have seen what a good jockey she is, winning the Wagga Cup on Stampede.

"She has a great nature with horses and they just run for her. She is a very good judge of speed, which is so important for us.

"She is going to get a lot of chances in the next year because she knows our horses very well."

King has arrived in Sydney a polished rider and looks back on the time outside the city as having made her a better rider.

"It was good because I had to earn it. It didn't do me any harm because I had to build-up my own contacts outside Gai's stable," King said.

"I got rides because I was Gai's apprentice, which helped me with some country trainers."

During that time King's boyfriend, group 1-winning jockey Blake Spriggs, helped her understand Australian racing.

"He was great because he knew tracks and knew the trainers to ride for, which helped me," King said. "He knows the form and when you would be going somewhere he would be able to tell me about it."

King will be out to make up for lost time in the next year with only four wins in Sydney until her claim reduces to 1.5 kilograms.

"Gai made sure I was fully committed to it. She wanted to see that I wasn't halfhearted," King said. "Now she is paying me back greatly by giving me real nice Saturday city winners and nice rides in the city during the week.

"She always goes through the rides I'm booked for and makes sure I'm on the right horses."

King has ridden 76 winners and is the leading apprentice in the provincial area and third on the metropolitan standings with 17 wins from limited opportunities.

She will look to make it back-to-back wins on Supply And Demand at Rosehill on Saturday.

"He is really fit and I think he will relax and run the trip out," King said. "He was very strong at the end of the 1800 metres and is the sort of horse that loves racing."

Another King has won on, Oakfield Midnight, comes to the city for the first time and like his jockey he has earned his stripes with wins at Newcastle and Taree in his past two runs.

"He is a real nice horse. I won on him two starts ago. He is a really strong horse and it is the right time for him to come to town.

"He has worked through his grades and earned his place to be there now and won't be far away."

King's future lies in Australia as a jockey with a return home ruled out because of a lack of opportunity.

"I only have just over a year left on my time and to be honest if I was to go back home I would have to stop riding," she said.

"I wouldn't be able to have a career back in England, it is just a struggle. I don't see there is a place for female jockeys over there.

"It is nowhere near as good as here".

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