Mark Zahra


Mark Zahra is an Australian jockey who is notable for having won the Melbourne Cup on Without A Fight in 2023 and on Gold Trip in 2022, as well as the Caulfield Cup on Without A Fight in 2023 and on Verry Elleegant in 2020.
He is the ninth jockey to ride consecutive Melbourne Cup winners.

Racing career

Zahra started his racing career in Western Australia and started his apprenticeship with Dean White. His first raceday ride was on Wail Spring on Boxing Day 1998 at Geraldton Racecourse. He won his first race at the same track on 1 March 1999 on Winrosy. He then moved to Victoria to work for Brian Cox at Wodonga and later with Tony McEvoy at Lindsay Park.
In August 2010, Zahra was found guilty of reckless riding and suspended for 29 meetings after an incident in a race that caused a serious spinal injury to jockey Danny Brereton, who fell from Marquee Player in the Mitchell Mackenzie stakes at Moonee Valley. Brereton is still disabled as a result, and is only able to walk with the assistance of a walking aid.
Zahra's first Group One victory was in the 2006 Doomben Cup on Above Deck, trained by Jim Conlan. On the opening day of the 2025 Melbourne Cup Carnival, he rode the winners of four consecutive races: two Group Two races, followed by the Group One races the Coolmore Stud Stakes and the Victoria Derby. At the end of that day's racing, he had ridden 1,476 winners, including 38 in Group 1 races.

Major wins

International wins

Australian wins