The Singapore Turf Club has granted a one-day visiting jockey’s licence to Australian jockey Mark Zahra (pictured) to ride at the Silver Bowl meeting next Sunday, 11 June.
The 40-year-old Victorian jockey is booked by trainer Tim Fitzsimmons to ride Golden Monkey in the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m), which is the first Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge.
Though unplaced aboard Sacred Croix in the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1600m) at his recent visit on 20 May, he still booted home one winner atop the Donna Logan-trained God’s Gift. A week after returning to Australia, he landed the Group 3 Lord Mayor’s Cup aboard Without A Fight for trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman at Eagle Farm.
The Perth native has made four other hit-and-run visits to Singapore from 2018 to 2022, and he also rode here as a visiting rider from 2004 to 2006, thereby taking his tally of wins in Singapore to 26 thus far.
Zahra made his riding debut in Western Australia in 1998 and has chalked up more than 1,300 winners in 25 years of riding, including 27 Group 1 winners to-date. His latest Group 1 wins include the Vinery Stud Stakes atop Prowess for trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood two months ago, as well as pairing up with the Ricardo Le Grange-trained Hongkong Great to victory in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) in November last year.
Other notable achievements of his include the Melbourne Cup with Gold Trip, the Makybe Diva Stakes with I’m Thunderstruck and the Blue Diamond Stakes atop Daumier last year, as well as the Caulfield Cup with Verry Elleegant in 2020 and the TJ Smith Stakes with Santa Ana Lane in 2019.
His first Group 1 victory, however, came aboard the John Meagher-trained Mayo’s Music in the Raffles Cup in 2004 in Singapore, whom he also partnered to claim the Group 3 Chairman’s Trophy a year later.
Licensed by Racing Victoria, Zahra currently sits in 9th position on 27 winners on the Victorian Metropolitan jockeys’ premiership this season. Besides Australia and Singapore, he has also ridden in Hong Kong, India, Japan, Macau, Mauritius, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
He goes to scale at 57kgs.
