ZAHRA CLAIMS A PIECE OF MELBOURNE CUP HISTORY
By Graham Potter | Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Mark Zahra’s second Melbourne Cup win … and back-to-back winners at that … has taken his career to another new level, yet again, building on the succession of significant upward steps it has taken over the last three years in which Zahra has saluted eleven times in Group 1 events.
Zahra, of course, has been a very good jockey for a long time ... it's just that lately times have changed very much for the better.
It has been well documented that, after winning the 2022 Melbourne Cup on Gold Trip, Zahra had the choice of ride between Gold Trip and Without A Fight in this year’s race. Zahra had gone with Without A Fight in the Caulfield Cup two-and-a-half weeks earlier, which he won, but the Melbourne Cup choice was still on the table.
History wasn’t the most encouraging reference point for Zahra with either runner. You had to go back to Makybe Diva’s treble in 2003, 2004 and 2005 to find the last horse to win back-to-back Cups … and it took an even lengthier search all the way back to 2001 to find Ethereal, the last horse to claim the Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double.
Equally as well documented is that fact Zahra chose Without A Fight and, from the moment that choice was made, the road to victory was about as flawless as you could get … from the build-up where everything was on song, to searching for and finding the kind of run in the race that others would have died for … to Without A Fight producing the kind of exhilarating acceleration over the final 300m that none of his opponents could live with … Zahra was in a dream world and he and Without A Fight, who put in a shift that superbly complimented Zahra’s outstanding ride, were racing’s new dream team.
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ZAHRA CLAIMS A PIECE OF MELBOURNE CUP HISTORY
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