Arapaho faces reduced Sydney autumn after Cup success

The current Sydney Cup titleholder Arapaho appears set to sit out much of the Sydney autumn series due to an early training disruption.

A foot abscess sidelined the nine-year-old, pushing back his return until his debut barrier trial at Randwick this Thursday.

Bjorn Baker's gelding enjoys a tight connection with his usual rider Rachel King, who steered him to glory in the Sydney Cup, and she reports the horse is thriving mentally despite the brief hold-up.

"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."

Since his midfield placing in the Melbourne Cup, Arapaho has not competed, though he had completed two outings at the same juncture last season.

The jockey admits resolving the foot concern has eaten into his schedule, curbing his Sydney autumn options, yet she eyes potential 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."

Just back in Sydney after excelling in Japan—where snow once delayed a meeting—King has settled in swiftly.

Her trip's peak was aboard Darlinghurst, sibling to global sensation 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."

Local success followed promptly with two victories at Warwick Farm Wednesday, building to a Midway Handicap triumph on Zenmaster at Randwick Saturday. Punters can find top online bookmakers for Sydney carnival markets.