Point of Law delivers Melbourne Cup clean sweep for Ciaron Maher

Point of Law, sold out of King Charles's ownership earlier this year, won the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday, giving trainer Ciaron Maher an extraordinary clean sweep of the first three places.

The three-year-old, sent off favourite, was ridden by Ethan Brown to land the Aus$10 million (US$7.2 million) race ahead of fellow Maher runners Zahrann and Juja Kibo, according to Yahoo Sports.

It was only Point of Law's sixth career start and his first attempt at 3,200 metres, a test he passed despite having never previously raced over that distance.

Maher had an unprecedented seven horses in the field of 23, and another of them, Royal Supremacy, set up the finish by surging to a 20-length lead with 1,000 metres remaining on a soft track left by overnight rain, the Guardian reported.

That advantage was gradually worn down through the home straight before Point of Law swept past with 150 metres to run, as Royal Supremacy faded to finish fifth.

Brown said he had backed his mount to reel in the leader and had simply "stayed cool, stayed patient" through the closing stages.

"And once he got that clear running, his turn of foot was enormous. He's going to be a superstar horse. This horse is something special," he said, as relayed by Yahoo Sports.

The win was a first Melbourne Cup success for Brown, who drew barrier nine and had already impressed when winning the lead-up Geelong Cup, his first start in Australia after Maher bought him from the King following a fourth-placed finish over 2,800 metres at Royal Ascot and victory in the Bahrain Trophy over 2,600 metres at Newmarket.

"Don't wake me up. Amazing feeling," Brown said, crediting Maher's faith in him. "He's done nothing but support me and backed me and I buggered up plenty of times on his horses and he just had nothing but faith."

"It's been a bumpy road, lot of challenges thrown my way... it's days like this that it all pays off," he added.

Maher, who previously won the race in 2022 with Gold Trip under Mark Zahra, described the feat of filling the first three places as barely believable.

"It's been a whirlwind, really, but I'm very proud of all the team," Maher said. "To get three horses in the first three spots, I don't even know where the rest finished yet, but very proud."

The 2025 winning jockey, Jamie Melham, who became only the second woman to win the race aboard Half Yours, was unable to repeat the feat after her mount suffered a fall at last month's Caulfield Cup and was ruled unfit to race. Melham instead rode outsider Future History, who finished 16th.

The build-up to the Cup was overshadowed by the scratching of Asterix, trained by Chris Waller and set to be ridden by 2020 champion jockey Jye McNeil, after stewards found a prohibited muscle-strain medication on both of the horse's forelegs. Waller admitted to a "simple mistake" and was fined.

The Melbourne Cup, first run in 1861, remains a public holiday in its host state of Victoria and drew its customary bumper crowd to Flemington, with celebrations among spectators running alongside the finish of the two-mile handicap.