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The Singapore Turf Club has granted one-day visiting jockeys’ licences to Australian jockey Mark Zahra and New Zealand jockey Michael Dee to ride at the Singapore Gold Cup meeting on Saturday, November 19.
Zahra is booked by trainer Ricardo Le Grange on Hongkong Great while Dee will ride the Donna Logan-trained Super Impact in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m).
Mark Zahra
Zahra, 40, last flew into Singapore to ride the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained Golden Monkey in the Group 1 Lion City Cup (1200m) in August when the pair ran third to Lim's Kosciuszko. He rode two other rides on the undercard and bagged one winner, The August.
Zahra hails from Perth and was first apprenticed to trainer Dean White and made his riding debut in Western Australia in 1998. He has since chalked up more than 1,200 winners in 24 years of riding.
Currently licensed by Racing Victoria, Zahra has won 25 Group 1 winners to-date, with the latest one aboard Gold Trip in the Melbourne Cup on November 1. Other notable Group 1 achievements of his included the Makybe Diva Stakes with I'm Thunderstruck and the Blue Diamond Stakes atop Daumier this year, 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.
Zahra also flew in for two one-day visits, first in 2018 where he helped Team Australia claim the Premier Gateway International Jockeys Challenge at Kranji, and in 2019. Previously, he rode 23 winners at Kranji from 2004 to 2006.
He currently sits in 6th position on 11 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.
Zahra goes to scale at 56kgs.
Michael Dee
Jockey Michael Dee, 26, began his apprenticeship with Hastings trainers Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen in New Zealand before moving to Australia to further hone his skills under Caulfield trainer Mick Price in 2015.
The son of former Cambridge trainer, Richard Dee, outrode his claim and became a senior jockey in December 2016. In 10 years of riding, Dee has won close to 700 races, including seven group 1 winners. His first Group 1 victory came aboard Foundry in The Metropolitan in September 2017, followed by Shillelagh in the Champions Mile two months later.
Dee's career highlight, however, came in two of his recent Group 1 victories this year. He steered Durston to an upset win in the Caulfield Cup on October 15 and took out the Victoria Derby with Manzoice two weeks later, both for Australian Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller.
Currently licensed by Racing Victoria, Dee sits in 11th position on 8½ winners on the Victorian Metropolitan jockeys' premiership this season.
Besides Australia and New Zealand, Dee has also ridden at the two-day Macau Apprentice Jockeys' Invitation Race Series in 2014 where he booted home one winner, Happiness In Peace.
Dee goes to scale at 50kgs.
