FLEMINGTON, Australia — Jockey Ethan Brown guided Point of Law to victory in the 166th Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, steering the three-year-old thoroughbred formerly owned by King Charles III past Royal Supremacy in the race's dramatic closing stages.
Brown pushed Point of Law from the middle of the pack to take the lead with just a few hundred metres remaining, holding off the late challenge of Royal Supremacy by a short head. Zahrann finished second and Juja Kibo third, giving trainer Ciaron Maher a rare one-two-three finish in front of a crowd of tens of thousands at Flemington.
Point of Law, a lightly raced three-year-old from the northern hemisphere, was sold by King Charles earlier this year to a syndicate of Australian investors including former AFL player Chris Judd and his wife Bec. The horse had won the Geelong Cup last month and was considered an early favourite for the race dubbed the "race that stops a nation."
The victory marked Maher's second Melbourne Cup success and gave Brown his first Cup win after surviving a career-threatening fall in 2023 that sent him to hospital and kept him out of racing for six months. Brown said in a post-race interview: "Don't wake me up, this is every jockey's dream."
Controversy surrounded the scratched horse Asterix, who was withdrawn after a stable worker administered the prohibited medication penetrene earlier that morning. Race stewards ruled the application constituted a "serious breach," and trainer Chris Waller was fined $50,000. Outside Flemington, protesters from the 'Nup to the Cup' movement gathered with signs reading "horse racing kills" and "don't bet on cruelty."
Robbie Williams performed at the event with a 10-piece band, backup dancers and pyrotechnics, described by organisers as the biggest pre-Cup performance ever staged at Flemington.
Interest in the race has been declining, according to a Guardian Essential poll, which found 9% of people had high interest and 23% moderate interest, though 60% considered it a unique part of Australia's national identity. The race, first run in 1861, carries a prize of A$10.2 million ($7.04 million; £5.3 million). Last year's event drew a record $382.5 million in bets.
Point of Law's win completes a remarkable rise for the horse that began life under royal ownership before joining Maher's stable, and serves as the latest chapter in the Melbourne Cup's long history as Australia's most prestigious thoroughbred handicap.
