Hungry for history: Jockey Mark Zahra refuses to waste his chance in 2024 Melbourne Cup aboard Circle Of Fire

Mark Zahra has given up his weekly gastronomic pleasures and top shelf tipples to ensure he can chase a historic third successive Melbourne Cup victory aboard Circle Of Fire.

The chance to make Melbourne Cup history drove jockey Mark Zahra to shelve one his favourite pastimes for a couple of weeks.

Zahra loves to enjoy time away from the track with a top-shelf tipple to go with lunch or dinner at some of Melbourne’s best eateries as a way to divest himself from the pressures of racing.

“Because I’m always dieting and wasting and riding trackwork and trials, when I get a day off, all I want to do is eat, drink and hang around with my friends and family,” Zahra said.

However, Zahra has cast aside gastronomic pleasure for hard training to shoot for his third consecutive Melbourne Cup aboard the Ciaron Maher-trained Circle Of Fire.

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Glen Boss won three Melbourne Cups in a row aboard the superstar mare Makybe Diva, but no jockey has won three straight Cups on different horses.

Zahra won on Gold Trip for Maher and then-training partner David Eustace in 2022 before again securing Australian racing’s greatest prize aboard the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight last year.

Zahra needs to get to 54.5kg – below his regular minimum riding weight – to ride the Sydney Cup winner Circle Of Fire, but the chance to make history spurred his decision to take up the challenge.

It’s a win for the ages as Gold Trip takes out the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup!#MelbourneCup#MelbCupCarnivalpic.twitter.com/KPulSkQQm5

— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 1, 2022

• Clinton Payne’s Melbourne Cup tips, runner-by-runner form analysis

“I’ve got to sweat a bit for it, but you’ve got to be in it to win it,” Zahra said.

“I’m always on a diet anyway but I just need to cut out having a blowout on the weekends.

“So there’s no alcohol, very light eating and lots of training and exercise and we should be right.”

Circle Of Fire is a $31 chance to give Zahra a third Melbourne Cup.

Gold Trip was a $21 chance in his year while Without A Fight was an $8 hope.

Zahra said he weighed up whether to push his body to get to 54.5kg in the Melbourne Cup but three factors led him to make a short-term sacrifice.

“In another year, I might have thought it was a bit light for me and I’m not sure if that horse is flying and going well enough to win,” Zahra said.

“But I look at a few things.

“One, he’s trained by Ciaron. Two, he has won over the trip and three, I’d love to make history.

“So, with that, I thought, ‘righto, I’ll put the mouthguard in and have a crack’ because I want to ride him.”

It’s a win for the ages as WITHOUT A FIGHT takes out the 2023 Lexus Melbourne Cup!

📽 @10SportAU | #MelbourneCuppic.twitter.com/JEVLReYG8o

— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 7, 2023

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Zahra rode Circle Of Fire in his first-up run in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington in September in which the import finished 20 lengths from the winner before an improved effort in the Turnbull Stakes.

Circle Of Fire was well held in the Caulfield Cup but Maher has a history of getting his runners to peak in the biggest races.

“I rang Ciaron and he said, ‘I’m going to tinker around with a few things and I reckon there’s a little bit of improvement in him and we’ll have him spot-on on the day’,” Zahra said.

“I think Flemington suits him way better than Caulfield because he’s got such a big stride.

“The question is whether he’s going as well as he was in the Sydney Cup, but I think half the trouble in the Melbourne Cup is three-quarters of the field don’t run two miles.

“We know he runs two miles, so we’ve just got to hope he peaks on the day.”

Irrespective of whether he can make history, the perennially chirpy Zahra will be back enjoying life soon after the Melbourne Cup.

“We’ll have 10 days off after that, but we’ll get back on it if we win the Cup,” Zahra said.

“If I don’t, I’ll get back on it as well.”

• Michelle Payne’s 2024 Melbourne Cup tips

MARK ZAHRA’S MELBOURNE CUP RECORD
2023: Without A Fight — 1st
2022: Gold Trip — 1st
2020: Verry Elleegant — 7th
2019: Southern Front — 19th
2018: Ventura Storm — 10th
2009: Zavite — 19th

Originally published as Hungry for history: Jockey Mark Zahra refuses to waste his chance in 2024 Melbourne Cup aboard Circle Of Fire