Dylan Browne McMonagle has ridden Al Riffa in 11 of his 15 career starts - but won't do so at the Melbourne Cup. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Little has gone wrong for top rider Dylan Browne McMonagle this season, but Ireland’s champion jockey-elect has suffered a rare reverse by being replaced on the Melbourne Cup favourite Al Riffa.
The double-Melbourne Cup winner Mark Zahra will ride Joseph O’Brien’s star in the Aus$10 million (€5.6 million) race that famously stops a nation, on the first Tuesday of next month.
Browne McMonagle has ridden Al Riffa in 11 of his 15 career starts, including last month’s victory in the Irish St Leger, a third Group One victory for the partnership.
However, that Leger success was the first time Al Riffa carried the
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