‘I thought I’d missed my chance to win the Cup’: Mark Zahra’s despair turns to chase for back-to-back Melbourne Cups
An hour after the Verry Elleegant’s 2021 Melbourne Cup win, Mark Zahra sat soberly in a house in Byron Bay as he reflected on his big ‘stuff up’.
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An hour after the Verry Elleegant’s 2021 Melbourne Cup win, Mark Zahra sat soberly in a house in Byron Bay as he reflected on how he had “stuffed up” his big chance to win Australia’s biggest race.
A year earlier he had piloted Verry Elleegant to victory in the Caulfield Cup, and as her rider south of the Murray River (James McDonald rode her in Sydney) Zahra would have been in the saddle on Cup day.
Two years on and he’s added a second Caulfield Cup on Without a Fight and a first Melbourne Cup on Gold Trip to his impressive CV. On Tuesday he rides Without A Fight as he attempts to join a select group of eight jockeys to ride successive Cup winners.
Jon Anderson: Having won three of the past seven Caulfield/Melbourne Cups, it would seem at age 41 you are at the peak of your powers?
Mark Zahra: I think so. The past five years I’ve been consistent at riding big winners. It has been an amazing turnaround for me in those Cup races. Luck plays a part in it. When Verry Elleegant won the Cup and I was suspended, I thought I had missed my chance. I was suspended and I stuffed up my one opportunity because it’s a race I hadn’t had many rides in.
JA: You watched the 2021 Cup from Byron Bay?
MZ: Yes, with a few friends. After she went across the line there weren’t too many words said for the next hour. I was happy for James McDonald and he’d had more success on her than I had. But it was a hard pill to swallow because prior to her I’d never had anything remotely in with a chance. Riding for Ciaron Maher’s has been huge for me.
JA: Is Verry Elleegant the best horse you have ridden?
MZ: Verry Elleegant was an unbelievable stayer and then Gold Trip came along. He did surprise me the way he won the Melbourne Cup last year, but he has since won a Turnbull in devastating fashion. Without A Fight is now in the conversation.
JA: Why haven’t you had many Cup rides?
MZ: Given the weight scale there aren’t too many we heavy guys can ride, maybe only the pick of three or four horses. So this year for me to have two good horses (Without A Fight and Gold Trip) going at the same time was rare, and in one way not ideal for me.
JA: So why did you choose Without A Fight as your ride?
MZ: Riding him in the winter he was too keen in his races but he was still winning really well. I don’t get too excited after they win, being measured in my comments, but the way he won the Q22 at Eagle Farm in June, I was really taken aback by it. He was keen but he still had a real turn of foot at the end. Normal horses can’t do that. I remember thinking then that if I could get him to relax, only then would he be a chance at races beyond 2000m. I rode him really quiet early in his trials and it seemed to have paid off. I think he will get the two miles because of how he relaxed and hit the line at Caulfield. He can win the Melbourne Cup.
JA: The Melbourne Cup hasn’t always been kind to you?
MZ: .My best finish was seventh on Verry Elleegant in the 2020 Cup. She drew wide and I had to settle back. If I could have settled closer I’m sure I could have won on her. They went quick so they never bunched up to give the backmarkers a chance. It was a great frontrunning ride by Jye McNeil on the winner Twilight Payment.
JA: Do you have a favourite horse?
MZ: I love Gold Trip as a horse, a real gentleman, so it was very hard not to ride him. He is probably my favourite horse, just such a pleasure to ride. I’m not saying he can’t win but I do think it will be extremely hard for him to go back-to-back. Last year he got all the favours, rain at the right times and he never got out in the Cox Plate. Plus he goes up 1kg.
JA: Did you look ahead to the weather forecast when choosing your ride?
MZ: My wife is the weather forecaster. The early prediction was for dry weather leading in which wouldn’t be ideal for Gold Trip, whereas Without A Fight doesn’t go in the soft at all.
JA: Was there one moment of utter elation after winning a Melbourne Cup?
MZ: Definitely coming back to scale. All the other runners go back so it’s just you and the pony, looking at wall to wall people screaming at you. That was the moment I will never forget. They were hanging over the fence for high fives so I threw my goggles in so one of them could take a screamer.
JA: How far out did you know you were going to win?
MZ: At the 400m I thought I was going to but then I got a bit of a fright from Emissary, so probably the 100m I knew I was home.
JA: Who is the horse to beat this year?
MZ: The one who is obviously a proper stayer is Vauban. He will be very hard to beat. His stablemate Absurde is a chance in the race but Vauban has been beating him comfortably so that is a bit scary for the opposition. And Ryan Moore is riding him, someone who is in the conversation as the best jockey in the world.
JA: How is your body?
MZ: Really good. I looked at a photo of me 15 years ago at Cup Carnival when I rode 53kg. The tax on my body was enormous, so now I don’t ride much under 56kg which has helped my longevity, as have the well-publicised breaks I have each year after the carnivals. Six weeks off in the winter.
JA: What weight do you get to?
MZ: Around 62-63kg but I never get really heavy because I’ve been on a diet since I started at 16. My stomach isn’t big enough to put that much food in. I’m 173cm and if I didn’t ride I would probably be around 65kg. I will never get fat. I can eat crap for three days and wash it down with alcohol before deciding that’s enough.
JA: What sports do you follow away from racing?
MZ: NFL is my favourite sport, closely followed by AFL. Unfortunately I’m a Minnesota Vikings fan in the NFL although I also love Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback). The last two years I’ve ridden in the Orr Stakes (Tofane, first in 2022; Gentleman Roy beaten on protest this year) and then headed straight to Tullamarine to fly over and go to the Super Bowl with my mate Jamie Spencer.
JA: So Super Bowl in 2024?
MZ: That’s the plan and it’s in Vegas. One year I would love to go to the Super Bowl lead-up which they say is something special. The Americans do it so well. But it’s on during our autumn carnival.
JA: How many AFL grand finals have you been to?
MZ: Six, including the two my Eagles won in 2006 and 2018. I love the AFL grand final and hope it stays in the day time.
Originally published as ‘I thought I’d missed my chance to win the Cup’: Mark Zahra’s despair turns to chase for back-to-back Melbourne Cups
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