Melbourne Cup winner: Mark Zahra rides Without A Fight to victory after gutsy call

One of the gutsiest calls in Melbourne Cup history paid the ultimate dividend for jockey Mark Zahra when Without A Fight took out today’s Melbourne Cup.

In doing so, the former European stayer, who was 13th in the Cup last year, completed the iconic Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double.

Trained for the past year in Victoria by Anthony and Sam Freedman, Without A Fight came from well back on the inside to surge through the pack at the 400-metre mark and cruised home to beat Soulcombe and Sheraz, both trained by expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller.

While the last 200m was plain sailing for Zahra, the previous two weeks were not as he agonised over whether to ride Without A Fight or Gold Trip, whom he partnered to win the Melbourne Cup last year.

“I spoke to some good judges, including Mark Hunter [form analyst], who I rate a very good judge, and he said if I could get him [Without A Fight] to settle he would win,” Zahra said after the race.

Winning back-to-back Melbourne Cups is rare enough but doing it on different horses is an incredible feat, especially as Gold Trip was heavily backed into second favourite and Without A Fight drifted to $9, so the bookies and punters were against Zahra’s judgment.

The favourite Vauban was given every chance by jockey Ryan Moore but was under pressure at the top of the straight and never looked the winner after that.

The ride on Gold Trip went to James McDonald, who won in 2021 after securing a late pick-up ride on one of his favourite horses, Kiwi mare Verry Elleegant, who wasn’t even in the Cup until a few days before the great race. McDonald was able to ride her only after his original booking was withdrawn.

Kiwi mare Verry Elleegant, ridden by James McDonald, wins the Melbourne Cup in 2021. Photo / Getty Images

Zahra’s judgment proved to be right as Without A Fight claimed an impressive win, ahead of Soulcombe in second and Sheraz in third. Gold Trip finished 17th out of the field of 23.