Mark Zahra on Cup win: ‘It’s what every jockey dreams of and I still bask in the glory’
After being suspended from racing for his part in an infamous Airbnb party, top jockey Mark Zahra redeemed himself by winning the Melbourne Cup.
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The odds of meeting an Aussie jockey on a holiday in Mexico and setting up a life far away from home were mightily long for California-raised Elyse Zahra.
She admits she knew “zero” about racing when they fell in love a decade ago.
“There were two jockeys there, we asked them all the naive questions like, ‘Have you seen a horse die?’ and ‘What’s it like to ride?’,’’ she recalls.
“What I’ve learnt is it’s such a brutal sport, people don’t really see behind the scenes.
“Mark did have to do the country meets and the hard yards to get to the top of his game.
“Weight loss and dieting, it’s brutal. What’s the word … he’s very disciplined when it comes to that stuff.”
The pair met when Mark Zahra was 30 and, a decade later, he’s 40 with 24 Group 1 wins, more than 1300 career wins, with the crowning moment a Melbourne Cup last year on Gold Trip.
In mid-2021 their daughter Harper was born … she was barely 72-hours-old when Zahra made the bold call to get back in the saddle.
“I wouldn’t normally do that but I thought it was worth it,’’ he recalls.
“She (Elyse) understands what I need to do and has been really good and it’s lucky I can pick and choose when I ride a bit more now. Elyse is very helpful with Harper.”
With Elyse’s family in California and Mark’s in Perth, the couple have become self-sufficient, largely out of necessity.
“He is hugely hands-on and it’s amazing to watch him being a dad,’’ Elyse says.
“Harper is a really good baby and we travel a lot and she’s been with us since the get-go. She fits in very well.
“I was going back to California once a year and then Covid hit which was hard. I went through pregnancy with both of us having no family (around). I’m an only child so I miss my girlfriends a lot, they’re like sisters. But I’ve been in Melbourne for 10 years, this year, so I’m pretty ingrained as an Aussie.”
Another tough time during Covid came when Zahra was hit with a three month suspension for his part in the infamous Airbnb party in August 2021.
He was one of five suspended riders, including top jockey Jamie Kah and even though he could have returned earlier, he decided to start with a fresh slate and resume riding on January 1 last year.
Making matters worse was that over the Melbourne Cup Carnival he was drowning his sorrows in Byron Bay watching the horse that he had been booked to ride, Verry Elleegant, race to victory.
“I’ve got a pretty thick skin and as a jockey you have to,’’ Zahra says.
“It’s a public sport and everyone watches what you do at work and people have money on you and can be critical. I’ve learnt that you can lose, that’s one thing, but there’s other things in life apart from racing.”
Elyse was critical in keeping Zahra composed and helping him regain perspective.
She rides the ups and downs by his side and was overjoyed when sweet redemption came in the form of last year’s Melbourne Cup win.
Her excitement was palpable and while embarrassed by her outpouring of joy she doesn’t regret it.
She and Zahra stole the show at Flemington with a live TV interview that was full of raw emotion and even an f-bomb.
She hijacked the stage during the post-race moment on Channel 10, with a scream that echoed across the nation.
“I still take things to heart,’’ she says. “There were some headlines we read that were so hilarious that I ruptured people’s eardrums. We coined this thing a few years ago, I first saw him win a Group 1 in 2016 at the Australian Guineas and he hadn’t won a Group 1 since 2011. Finally he was riding the favourite in the Blue Diamond and I cried at the races.
“I hadn’t seen him win and I went ballistic. People said there was steam coming out with excitement. At the Melbourne Cup I’d had two champagnes the whole day and I was hugging strangers but it was my thing to go mental and I am embarrassed when I see that back.”
Zahra says it’s taken some time but Elyse has contracted that winning feeling.
“When we first went out she said she’ll rock up to everything but now she only goes to Group 1s,’’ he laughs.
For Zahra, the Cup win was a giant triumph he could never have scripted.
“I still think about the Cup a bit, I find when I get time to myself it’s like, ‘Wow I won the Melbourne Cup, that’s pretty cool’,’’ he says. “It’s what every jockey dreams of and I can still bask in the glory for another few months.”
After victory in the race that stops a nation Zahra put on 3kg in a week – which is a fair feat for a jockey on the heavier side anyway.
The battle to make weight and stay fit is well and truly ongoing.
“It’s amazing how people find that funny,’’ Zahra says.
“Probably the difference was only straight champagne. When I have my time off I can put on anywhere up to 7-8kg.
“It never gets easier, you go through stages where your weight is good but you’re sick of eating the same food. Starving is just the worst thing in the world. I do a lot of my weight with sweat gear and exercise and I do try to do it as healthy as possible and fill up on the right drinks after a race.”
Elyse, an editor who went back to work earlier this month after an extended maternity leave, says she laughs when they go on holiday and he blows out.
“He’s picked the worst career for someone who loves food,’’ Elyse says.
“He is actually such a foodie, I’m not at all. I can also live off grilled cheese sandwiches. He’ll be in the bath and he’ll text me, ‘Look at this menu, we have to go.’”
Zahra, who started riding a horse in Perth at age 15, will be on contender Don Corleone
for today’s Blue Diamond Stakes, the crown jewel of Melbourne Racing Club’s summer racing calendar.
Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Day headlines a high-profile card with Victoria’s richest two-year-old event, the $2m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) plus Group 1s the Ladbrokes Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and Futurity Stakes (1400m).
Zahra has at times toyed with giving riding away. But one of the country’s best, he could ride for another five years at least and he’ll be happy.
“I haven’t got any set goal,’’ he says.
“While I’m still riding well and my body holds up … I work hard and then have a good amount of holidays and usually take most of the winter off. It’s a very demanding game and I want to get a bit more longevity out of it so I’m trying to find a nice balance.
“I sort of know how my year looks – we move to Sydney and then Adelaide, Brisbane and then go on a holiday.
“I usually get through looking at all the holiday destinations. If I don’t have a goal I’d go insane.”
Zahra thinks racing is in a good state but he’d like to see more of a balance between night and day racing. “The turnover is good, prizemoney healthy,’’ he says.
“The workload for jockeys is pretty high. Not sure if it’s something jockeys need to manage themselves. There seems to be this focus on night meetings, but it has to be watched that jockeys don’t get burnt out.
“With some of the other jockeys doing night meetings I’d hate to see something bad happen.
“We have a good circle, we’ve got a good jockeys room. When the gates open it’s every man for himself. It’s all friendly but you’ve still got to compete for each others’ rides and if you didn’t it would be a boring old time.
“It is pretty cutthroat and you find whenever someone is sick like Deane Lester (who passed away last month) and Craig (Williams) with helping out in the Ukraine, everyone rallies.”
But what are the odds of the daughter of an Australian and an American riding a Melbourne Cup winner in future? Very long.
“No chance,’’ he says. “It’s way too demanding, so many meetings. Picture it as a young person, she wouldn’t have a life.”
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