MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Without A Fight won the 163rd running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday, with jockey Mark Zahra celebrating back-to-back triumphs in Australia's most prestigious race.
Zahra, who rode Gold Trip for his first Cup win last year, steered the seven-year-old gelding in front 300 metres from the finish and burned away to claim the A$8 million ($5.15 million) race by two lengths from Soulcombe on a hot, blustery afternoon.
Victory in the two-mile handicap secured a rare double in Australian racing, with Zahra having ridden the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained horse to glory at the A$5 million Caulfield Cup last month.
The last winner of both the Melbourne spring races in a single season was Ethereal in 2001.
"Unbelievable. To the trainer's credit, he was an absolute gentleman for me today," said Zahra.
"He went to the rail, switched off. I just thought I'm going to stay here, they all made their moves, which opened it up for me and I was on a horse that you can just sit on.
"He's got an electric turn of foot and he just pulled me all the way to the line and it was all over."
Zahra became the first jockey to win back-to-back Melbourne Cups since Glen Boss rode Makybe Diva to a hat-trick of wins from 2003-05.
He has shown a knack for timing on and off the track.
Though guiding Gold Trip to the Turnbull Stakes win at Flemington a month ago, he ditched the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained stallion last week in favour of Without A Fight for the Cup tilt.
Gold Trip, carrying the top weight of 58.5kg on a firm track, slumped to 17th under replacement jockey James McDonald.
'EXTRAORDINARY RIDE'
Prepared by British duo Simon and Ed Crisford, Without A Fight ran 13th in last year's Melbourne Cup.
However, the horse has come into its own since joining the Freedmans' Flemington stable.
It was rated 7/1 by bookmakers pre-race on Tuesday despite hauling 56.5kg and jumping from a wide barrier.
Zahra shook his fist in triumph in the saddle and waved two fingers in a V-sign at the crowd of 84,492, a gesture he later felt awkward about.
"I got up on the hinds and gave it the two fingers. I was thinking the two winners, I don't know what I was thinking -- idiot," he said.
The Freedmans, a father-and-son training duo, added another major piece of silverware to the family's trophy cabinet.
Anthony's brother Lee Freedman won five Melbourne Cups from 1989-2005.
"It's been a great race for the family, it's been a while between drinks and it's good to get another one," said Sam Freedman.
"An extraordinary ride, (Zahra) got him onto the rail from a wide gate, relaxed, switched him off, made a run."
Local trainer Chris Waller, famous for preparing the record-breaking mare Winx, missed out on the win but his horses Soulcombe and Sheraz, rated an 80/1 chance, placed second and third.
Pre-race favourite Vauban, trained by Ireland's Willie Mullins, nosed in front at the final turn but faded badly to finish 14th.
Three-times Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Damien Oliver rode Alenquer to 21st in his final Melbourne Cup, the gelding cleared by stewards in the morning after reported for foot bruising.
However, Right You Are, trained by Maher and Eustace, failed to finish.
Stewards said vets had cleared all runners of "significant findings" after post-race inspections.
The field was reduced to 23 after the Kris Lees-trained Cleveland was scratched by stewards late on Monday.