Without A Fight wins 2023 Melbourne Cup at Flemington

Without A Fight won the 2023 Melbourne Cup at Flemington, beating Soulcombe and Sheraz on Tuesday afternoon, giving jockey Mark Zahra a second consecutive victory in the big race.

Trained by father-son team Anthony and Sam Freedman, Without A Fight broke clear with around 300m to go before winning by three lengths as Soulcombe finished on the inside to take second place. The duo joins his brother/uncle, Lee, as winning trainers of the race that stops the nation.

“It’s very special, we have had a rich family history [in the race] …I was here in 2005 when Makybe Diva won her third place and it’s pretty special to be here,” Sam Freedman said. Channel 10. “The home team have done a fantastic job with this horse, he’s really thriving, so a big team effort from everyone.”

Zahra, meanwhile, had made the decision earlier in the year to leave last year’s winner Gold Trip, who stepped back again to defend his title on Tuesday, with the jockey also completing the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne double Cup following Without A Fight’s triumph in the key prep race last month.

Freedman said although conditions were unfavorable for Without A Fight at the same race last year, everything came together this time ahead of a strong run from Zahra.

“I’m glad Mark stayed, he had a hell of a ride today,” Freedman said of Zahra. “The horse is quite extraordinary, and I will say that last year, when he was racing, the ground was not to his liking and he was in speed.

“And we received this horse in a great order and we were able to point him in the right direction. Mark has built a really good relationship with him, I think he will probably stay with him for his future preparations, I hope that we will win.’ I probably don’t have a lot of conversation about it.

“It’s extremely exciting and I’m proud of the whole team.”

Without A Fight is the first horse to win the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double since Ethereal in 2001.

“My main worry was that he was shooting so hard, when people asked me who the bigger opponent was. [was] I said “it’s actually him being too enthusiastic”, [he] “He comes out cold from the barriers and he is a horse who settles much better on the fence with all the horses lined up around him,” explained Zahra.

“So I took him to the fence and he fell asleep straight away. And I was following three great jockeys actually; I was following Damien Oliver, James MacDonald and Ryan Moore, and even if their horse doesn’t take you not as far as you think, they will get you where you need to go in a race.

“And I knew they would, and the inside just kept getting better, and in the Melbourne Cup you start to see them fall from the 1000m. [metres from home] and they start to fall, so it’s all about charting the right path.

“So I got to where I wanted to be, I got right behind Gold Trip and Vauban, and when I knew I could ride next to Gold Trip to get some clean air, I thought [we’re home]; last year I was scared at the 200, at the 400 [today] I thought I was right at home here.”

Pre-race favorite Vauban failed to make the finish after the leaders set a blistering pace over 2000 meters. Ashrun completed the minor rankings in fourth position.