POINT OF LAW LANDS MELBOURNE CUP AS MAHER TRAINS FIRST THREE HOME

Point Of Law, the colt who carried the colours of the King and Queen in Britain earlier this year, won the 166th Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday, leading home a remarkable one-two-three for trainer Ciaron Maher. Zahrann followed him home in second with Juja Kibo third, both also from the Maher stable.

It was a second Melbourne Cup success for Maher and a first in the race for jockey Ethan Brown, who produced the three-year-old to run down his front-running stablemate Royal Supremacy in the straight. Royal Supremacy had set a scorching pace, at one stage holding a lead of around 15 lengths, before his effort petered out in the closing stages.

From Newmarket to Flemington

Point Of Law began his career with John and Thady Gosden, for whom he won the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July in the royal silks. He was then sold privately, with At The Races reporting Wathnan Racing as the buyers, and was sent to Australia to join Maher.

The move paid off quickly. He won the Geelong Cup on his first start for his new yard, a race that has long been a key stepping stone to Flemington, and he went on to justify the faith shown in him on the first Tuesday in November. ABC News noted that he is only the third Northern Hemisphere-bred three-year-old to win the Cup, following Rekindling in 2017 and Cross Counter in 2018.

Speaking after the race, Brown was in no doubt about the colt's potential:

"He's going to be a superstar horse, he's something special." (Ethan Brown, speaking to At The Races)

Maher, meanwhile, said the result was the reward for planning, telling Channel Nine: "I knew I had my best hand going into it, but it's got to execute."

How the European raiders fared

The best of the European-trained runners was Sons And Lovers, who finished fourth for Joseph O'Brien, the first home of his five-strong team. Sky Sports reported that O'Brien's James J Braddock finished seventh, while George Boughey's Ebor runner-up Hopewell Rock, carrying the colours of JP McManus, came home ninth.

For Brown, the victory had extra significance. Sky Sports recalled that the rider suffered a serious fall at Flemington in 2023, making his return to the winner's enclosure there on Cup day all the more poignant.