While Mark Zahra typically opts for champagne to celebrate, he indicated a change of plans for Saturday night following a significant victory early in the Flemington program. The accomplished jockey secured the inaugural $175,000 Listed Mike Moroney (1400m) race, established in honour of the late former trainer, with the New Zealand filly Lara Antipova.

Zahra frequently partnered with Moroney, who achieved considerable success in Australia from his Flemington base, piloting him to 57 wins, including three at Group 1 level. Zahra has now committed to celebrating this win with Moroney’s preferred drink.

“It’s very special, he was a good friend of mine, I rode a lot of winners for him (and he was) just all round great bloke,” Zahra said. “No one had anything bad to say about him, so an absolute privilege (to win). “I have a glass of red for Mike tonight.”

Lara Antipova is under the care of Moroney’s fellow New Zealander, Mark Walker. Walker had a prior working relationship with the Melbourne Cup winning trainer before his move to Australia. Walker expressed his satisfaction at the well-performed filly’s success in Australian racing.

“It’s great today for the New Zealand industry that our form stacks up,” Walker said. “She is a Group 1 winner at home and I know this is a Listed race, but it was a quality field today, so it’s just really good when our form stacks up. “Hopefully we go on to a Thousand Guineas from here.”

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