Without A Fight Shows Staying Prowess in Melbourne Cup

Without A Fight  entered modern Melbourne Cup (G1) history Nov. 6 when he produced an emphatic performance to land Australia’s biggest race at Flemington. In doing so he added further weight to Teofilo ‘s growing reputation as a sire of high-class stayers suitable for the country’s stiffest test.  

Anthony Freedman and his son Sam Freedman, members of a training dynasty, also etched their own names on the honor roll. So did Mark Zahra, who became the first rider in 44 years to achieve back-to-back Cup wins on different horses.

Without A Fight also completed the now rare Caulfield Cup (G1)-Melbourne Cup double, continuing his dominance in the staying division since becoming a permanent Australian resident 12 months ago.

The 7-year-old broke a 22-year hoodoo for Caulfield Cup winners in the Flemington showpiece, becoming the first horse since Sheila Laxon’s elite mare Ethereal (NZ) in 2001 to triumph in both races in the same calendar year.

The in-form Zahra, who rode four winners on Cox Plate day, agonized over his decision to ride Without A Fight in preference to last year’s winner, Gold Trip , in this year’s Melbourne Cup, revealing he sought the advice of a noted form analyst before making the call. 

“Mark Hunter is a good friend and I rate him as one of the best judges in Australia,” Zahra said. “I spoke to him at length about it and he said, ‘You know, there’s not much in it, but if you can get him to settle, he’ll run it.’ 

“We went through the race, the weather forecast. The stars aligned for Gold Trip last year and they aligned for this horse this year. 

“I don’t get to pick the result, I have to pick them before then and there was just a few things, the weight and the way he won the Caulfield Cup, I was confident he’d run it out today.

“He’s got an electric turn of foot, and he just pulled me all the way to the line, and it was all over.”

Photo: Mark Gatt

Jockey Mark Zahra and joint trainer Sam Freedman celebrate Without A Fight’s win in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington

Without A Fight ($8) came home 2 1/4 lengths ahead of the Chris Waller-trained Soulcombe, who ran well after dwelling in the stalls, while the runner-up’s stablemate Sheraz  was another half-length back in third, massively outrunning his $151 starting price. 

The favorite, Vauban , after racing prominently throughout, didn’t look comfortable in the straight and eventually finished 14th, while Gold Trip was a distant 17th of 22.

Without A Fight, owned and bred by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid al Maktoum, finished 13th in the Cup 12 months ago when trained by Simon and Ed Crisford. 

The Freedman name has been synonymous with the Cup—Hall Of Fame inductee Lee was credited with training five winners, including champion mare Makybe Diva  to the last two of her remarkable three victories—and this time it was his brother Anthony and nephew Sam who officially signed their names in the record books.

There was a crowd of 84,492 at Flemington to witness the Freedmans’ achievement, the largest Cup day attendance since 2017.

Teofilo is the sire of 24 group 1 scorers and 112 stakes winners globally, with 18 of those stakes winners and five elite-level scorers bred in the Southern Hemisphere.

Teofilo is due to stand the 2024 Northern Hemisphere breeding season at Darley’s Kildangan Stud base for an unchanged fee of €30,000 (US$32,102, €3=US$1.07).