Melbourne Cup winner lays down the law

Point of Law has won the 2026 Melbourne Cup after a gallant effort from Royal Supremacy after the five-year-old bay gelding led most of the way by a good 15 lengths.

He justified his favouritism by mowing down the frontrunner to win the $10 million Cup at Flemington.

Point Of Law, formerly owned by King Charles III and Queen Camilla, finished strongly under Ethan Brown in the Alice Springs jockey’s comeback after almost dying in a horrendous fall two years ago.

Master trainer Ciaron Maher, who saddled a record seven runners, won Australia’s greatest race for the second time.

He trained the trifecta, with Zahrann second and Juja Kibo third.

“I knew I had my best hand going into it and I just had to execute,” said Maher, who also won the 2022 Cup with Gold Trip.

“I certainly didn’t know that Royal Supremacy would lead by that far (about 20 lengths), but there’s nothing better than a true staying test.”

The Maher camp bought Point Of Law from the royal stable after the son of Frankel won the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy (2615m) at Newmarket in July.

It was Point Of Law’s second win in only four starts, and his subsequent Geelong Cup triumph had him among the favourites for the race that stops a nation.

Brown has worked closely with Maher after his fall in the 2023 Australian Guineas at Flemington, which put him out of commission for six months.

Brown said he was considering not coming back until he spoke to Maher, who said “you are mad if you don’t go back”.

“He’s done nothing but support me and back me in,” Brown said.

“I’ve buggered up plenty of times on his horses and he’s had nothing but faith.

“He’s one of many people, but he’s believed in me … I’m quite speechless.”

There was rain early in the day but it held off during the Cup, which was run on a track that was rated a soft 5.

There was drama before the jump when leading trainer Chris Waller was fined $50,000 by Racing Victoria stewards, who found his runner Asterix mistakenly had a medication administered on race day.

Asterix, part-owned by former New Zealand international cricketer Mark Greatbatch, had Penetrene administered to both forelegs in its stable just hours before the Cup.

The eight-year-old gelding was subsequently scratched, leaving 2020 Cup-winning jockey Jye McNeil without a ride in this year’s race.

Attendance at the track dipped slightly to about 84,000 in 2025 after 90,000 people came through the gates in 2024.

Those numbers were still well below the record attendance of 122,000 in 2003.

A Nup to the Cup protest picnic took place next to the racecourse, with attendees taking banners to the entrance of the Flemington precinct throughout the day.