Jockey Mark Zahra was excited to land his first Melbourne Group One winner on lucky pick-up ride Albert The Fat in the $1 million Emirates Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
Zahra only picked up the ride on Friday, replacing the suspended Damien Oliver on the Chris Waller trained seven-year-old.
“It’s unfortunate for Damien but he’s got 100 or so, so I’m sure he’s more than happy to give me one, but I’m just thrilled,” Zahra said.
“I only had 55.5kg rides today and my manager (Reece Murphy) rang me yesterday and said ‘Don’t go silly but you might be riding this horse’.
“Sure enough he rang last night and I hadn’t gone silly.
“It’s indescribable, it’s huge. I’ve got to give my manager a huge wrap. He does a superb job and to share that with him is massive.”
Zahra, who hails from Perth, came to Melbourne as an apprentice but landed his first Group One success aboard the John Meagher-trained Mayo’s Music in the Raffles Cup in Singapore.
He won the 2006 Doomben Cup on the Jim Conlan-trained Above Deck but has also had his share of injuries along the way.
On Melbourne Cup day 2007 he suffered a broken leg and wrist when his mount Bay Story snapped a hind leg and fell, which sidelined him for several months.
However he has kept chipping away as stable rider in Melbourne for Darley and won on Sepoy at the star colt’s first three starts before Sydney-based Kerrin McEvoy, Darley’s number one jockey, took over the reins.
AAP TURF
