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.

All credit too to the training team of Anthony and Sam Freedman who have now guided the superior Teofilo gelding to four wins in five starts since Without A Fight relocated to Australia from the Simon and Ed Crisford stable after last year’s Melbourne Cup in which Without a Fight trailed in 21.15 lengths behind Gold Trip.

Without A Fight had been a fairly smart horse from day one, winning seven out of eighteen starts for the Crisford stable up to Group 3 company.

In Australia he has won the Group 3 Lord Mayor’s Cup, The Group 2 Q22 and the Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup Group 1 double.

Zahra has ridden Without A Fight in all of his five starts in Australia to date. It won’t be without a fight if anyone tries to replace him in the saddle of his latest Melbourne Cup winner.

Another good thing about the win was that it was so comprehensive, there was no excuse for any of the runners who finished behind him.

Without A Fight and Zahra have thus written a bit of Melbourne Cup history of their own on a day when the world of horse racing shone its light brightly putting an acknowledged, great sporting spectacle in the spotlight.

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