Without A Fight has become the first horse since 2001 to win the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup in the same year.
Key points:
- Without A Fight has won the 2023 Melbourne Cup, ahead of Soulcombe and Sheraz
- Jockey Mark Zahra won back-to-back Melbourne Cups
- Without A Fight becomes the first horse since 2001 to with the Melbourne and Caulfield cups in the same year
Soulcombe, who missed the start, stormed home to take second.
Sheraz came home third and Ashrun battled hard for fourth.
It was a back-to-back win for jockey Mark Zahra, who rode Gold Trip to win last year’s Melbourne Cup.
Zahra has become the first jockey since Glen Boss on Makybe Diva to win consecutive Melbourne Cups.
“I was on a horse you can sit on. He’s got an electric turn of foot and he pulled me all the way to the line,” Zahra said after the win.
“The stars aligned for Gold Trip last year and aligned for this horse this year.
“Just a few things and the way he won the Caulfield Cup, I was confident he would run it.”
Without A Fight firmed as a Cup contender after winning the Caulfield Cup last month.
No horse since 2001 had completed Melbourne-Caulfield Cup double, when Ethereal won both.
(ABC)
