Jockey Ethan Brown reacts as he rides Point Of Law to win the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
November 02, 2026 - 4:15 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Ethan Brown steered Point Of Law to victory in the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday after chasing down frontrunner Royal Supremacy down the stretch to win Australia's greatest horse race.
Trainer Ciaron Maher made history in the 166-year-old race as the first to train a trifecta, with Zahrann 3 3/4-lengths behind in second place and Juja Kibo finishing third. Maher had seven horses among the 23 starters in the 3,200-meter (2-mile) Group 1 classic at Flemington.
It was just the sixth race start for Point of Law, a three-year-old colt formerly owned by King Charles III. An Australian consortium bought Point of Law after it won the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July.
“He’s just thrived,” Maher said of Point of Law. “All the owners, what a ride they’ve been on! It’s been a whirlwind, really, but I’m very proud of all the team.
“To get three horses in the first three spots ... very proud.”
In its Australian debut, Point of Law won the Geelong Cup two weeks ago to earn a spot at the 10.2 million Australian dollar ($7.1 million) Melbourne Cup, which is staged each year on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as “the race that stops the nation.”
On a track that was rated soft after overnight rain, Point of Law was up to 20 lengths behind Royal Supremacy at stages but started closing the gap as the field rounded into the straight and surged to the finish ahead of Zahrann, Juja Kibo and Sons And Lovers. Royal Supremacy, also trained by Maher, faded to fifth.
It was a second Melbourne Cup victory for Maher, who trained 2022 winner Gold Trip, and the first for Brown, who was raised in the remote outback town of Alice Springs in Austraila's Northern Territory and survived a near fatal fall in a race at Flemington in 2023 and underwent multiple surgeries.
The owners “put their faith in me, and they’ve spent a lot of money on this horse,” Brown said. “And for them to put me on it, it means the world.
“And to able to … win the Melbourne Cup -- I’ve just got to pinch myself.”
Earlier Tuesday, trainer Chris Waller was fined 50,000 Australian dollars ($35,000) and Astrix, an eight-year-old New Zealand gelding, was scratched by stewards because medication was administered to the horse's forelegs on the morning of the race.
The medication, penetrene, is used to relieve inflammation but is not allowed on race days.
“It’s a very basic liniment most stables use and I guess the pressure of race day, the person that looks after the horse, put it on his legs right in front of the security guard, nothing to hide,” Waller said. “As soon as it happened we knew there was a problem. “I've got to wear the responsibility, it’s my team.”
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