A horse once owned by King Charles has conquered Australia’s biggest race. Point of Law, ridden by jockey Ethan Brown, surged from the middle of the pack to win the 2026 Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.
Point of Law (Credits: BBC Sport)
The three-year-old thoroughbred, bought from the King earlier this year for an undisclosed sum, entered the race as an early favourite and delivered on that promise with a stunning late run.
Brown’s Dream Melbourne Cup Victory
Brown said he was telling himself to “just stay cool, stay patient” as Royal Supremacy raced more than a dozen lengths ahead, before pushing Point of Law past the leaders on the home stretch. “Don’t wake me up, this is every jockey’s dream,” he said in a post-race interview.
The jockey, who grew up in Alice Springs and never dreamed as a kid he would ride the Melbourne Cup, called Point of Law a future “superstar horse.” The win caps a remarkable comeback for Brown, who was “inches from losing my life” after a fall in a 2023 race that hospitalized him for six months.
King Charles’ Horse Sale and the Melbourne Cup Result
The King sold Point of Law to a group of investors that includes former AFL player Chris Judd and his wife Bec. Trained by Ciaron Maher, Point of Law had already won the Geelong Cup last month. Maher dominated the 2026 Melbourne Cup with a record seven runners, including second-place Zahrann and Juja Kibo.
The Melbourne Cup, first run in 1861 and known as the “race that stops a nation,” carried a prize of A$10.2 million this year. Tens of thousands enjoyed sunny weather at Flemington, where Robbie Williams staged what organizers called the biggest pre-Cup performance ever at the track, complete with a 10-piece band, backup dancers and pyrotechnics.
The day wasn’t without controversy: horse Asterix was scratched after a stable worker applied the medication penetrene on race day, a serious breach that saw trainer Chris Waller fined $50,000. Outside the track, “Nup to the Cup” protesters gathered with signs reading “horse racing kills” and “don’t bet on cruelty.”
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
