Jockey Mark Zahra goes back-to-back on Without A Fight

afr.com:

Cutting ties with last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip was agonising for jockey Mark Zahra.

But the decision – which he claims even upset his mum – proved a good call on Tuesday when he defiantly rode Without A Fight and secured his second consecutive Cup win.

Mark Zahra, riding Without A Fight, wins the Melbourne Cup. Getty Images

The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without a Fight took the lead at the Melbourne Cup race in Flemington on Tuesday afternoon, defeating Chris Waller-trained horses Soulcombe and Sheraz.

Without A Fight is owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s ruling family whose yellow-with-black-spots silks have become a fixture on British and Irish racetracks.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid brought Without A Fight to Australia to race in the 2022 Melbourne Cup, where he finished 13th. The horse moved to the Freedmans from the stable of fellow father-son trainers Simon and Ed Crisford in England following that race, representing a new level of involvement in Australian racing for the Sheikh.

He won back-to-back races in Queensland over the winter months, relishing the dry ground, and won the Caulfield Cup last month. Last month, after riding Without A Fight to a Caulfield Cup win, Zahra decided against riding Gold Trip for a second time in the Melbourne Cup.

Zahra told RSN Racing and Sport last month the weather forecast was a significant factor in his decision.

“It was hard because I’m very good friends with a couple of owners in the horse, so I had to tell them first,” Zahra said at the time. “They wanted to kill me and my mum, she loves Gold Trip, so she was flat as well.”

Sam Freedman said it was an important race for the family, whose history in horse racing dates back four