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Jockey Mark Zahra went with his head over heart, but is prepared for heartbreak should his favourite horse Gold Trip defend the Melbourne Cup without him.
The in-form hoop will not be part of Gold Trip’s bid to become only the fifth horse to win back-to-back editions of the famous race after opting to stay on board Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight for Tuesday’s race.
Mark Zahra won the Melbourne Cup on Gold Trip last year, but will ride Without A Fight next week.Credit: Getty
Given until after the Cox Plate by respective owners to choose his Cup mount, Zahra made the call as he crossed the line in fifth place in Saturday’s weight-for-age championship that he would not be part of Gold Trip’s shot at history. James McDonald, fresh off a Cox Plate win on Romantic Warrior, has taken the plum ride instead.
The Melbourne Cup roll call would make jarring reading for Zahra if Gold Trip was to win the $8.41 million race with another hoop. The four gallopers in the Cup’s 162-year history to defend their crown all did so with the same jockey on board. Eighteen years later, Glen Boss’s name is still tied to Makybe Diva.
“I was hoping to never have the thought cross my mind,” Zahra said on Wednesday of the prospect of Gold Trip zooming past him to victory next week. “I’ll probably jump off here, get into my car and drive home.
“I try not to think about it. It’s going to hurt if he wins, but I’ve made my decision, [I’m] comfortable with it. If I stuff it up so be it.”
Mark Zahra won the Caulfield Cup on Without A Fight.Credit: Racing Photos
The market thinks Zahra has pulled the wrong rein. Gold Trip is the $4.50 second favourite, while Without A Fight is next at $7. At his only crack at two miles, Without A Fight finished 21 lengths behind Gold Trip in rain-affected going last year, though has won up to 2787 metres twice.
Zahra, who sought advice from form gurus, said history, the likelihood of a firm track and Gold Trip’s recent hard racing swayed him to Sam and Anthony Freedman’s imported stayer.
“Makybe Diva is the last horse to go back-to-back and with that weight and if you look at the honour roll they’re really good horses,” Zahra said. “[I’m] not saying Gold Trip’s not a great horse, I just feel last year we had soft tracks, everything was put on.
“I always say after that race the stars aligned for Gold Trip that year. It’s not often the stars align two years in a row.”
Zahra’s decision shows there is not much room for sentiment in racing, especially at this time of year when millions of dollars are at stake.
“With the heart, I’d take Gold Trip every day of the week,” Zahra said. “You win a Melbourne Cup on a horse, it creates a special place in your heart as it is, and because his manners are so good it’s a double whammy.
“But when I weighed it all up, I’m going to have to break up with him for this race. Hopefully, he’ll let me give him a pat on the head after the race, win, lose or draw.”
Transferred into the Freedman yard after last year’s Cup, Without A Fight is having his third preparation in Australia. He won impressively over 1800 metres and 2200 metres during Queensland’s winter carnival, and reached another level this campaign, as seen in his victory at Caulfield.
Zahra is confident the seven-year-old will run the 3200 metres well this year.
“He’s a horse that gets back in his races, but he’s got a real electric turn of foot,” Zahra said. “My job is to get him to relax for the Melbourne Cup journey, which he failed over last year, but I think he’s a different horse this year. If I get him to relax, his last 400 he has a devastating turn of foot and I think he’ll be right in the finish.”
Zahra rates imported favourite Vauban as the horse to beat.
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