Australia: Point of Law the first Northern Hemisphere 3-year-old to win Melbourne Cup
Point of Law became the first Northern Hemisphere 3-year-old to win the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia on Tuesday in eight years with an emphatic win by 3 3/4 lengths in the two-mile race.
Owned by the King and Queen of England until mid-October, Point of Law led a sweep of the trifecta for Australian trainer Ciaron Maher in the $7.1 Melbourne Cup, Australia’s most famous race.
Point of Law (who paid $12.70 in American pools) closed from the middle of the 23-runner field and overcame brief traffic issues in early stretch. Ridden by Ethan Brown, Point of Law had an uninterrupted rally through the final furlong to zoom by longtime leader Royal Supremacy.
Zahrann (34-1) rallied to finish second, a nose in front of 11-1 Juja Kibo. Sons and Lovers, second in the Group 3 Kilternan Stakes at about 1 5/8 miles at the Curragh in Ireland on Sept. 12, finished fourth for Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien.
Hopewell Rock, the 9-2 favorite in American pools, finished ninth by 6 3/4 lengths.
Maher had seven starters and also finished fifth and sixth with Royal Supremacy and Shockletz. Royal Supremacy led by at least 15 lengths on the backstretch, and finished 5 1/4 lengths behind the winner.
Point of Law joins Cross Counter in 2018 as recent Northern Hemipshere 3-year-olds to win the Melbourne Cup.
Maher won his second Melbourne Cup on Tuesday. In 2021, Gold Trip won the race for him and David Eustace at a time when they had a prominent training partnership. Eustace has since relocated to Hong Kong.
Point of Law, a colt by Frankel, did not begin racing until April.
After a win in a maiden race in May in his second start, the British-bred Point of Law was fourth by 1 1/2 lengths in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, and won the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy at 1 5/8 miles at Newmarket Racecourse in July.
Earlier this fall, Point of Law was sold and transferred from British trainers John and Thady Gosden to Maher.
In his debut for Maher, Point of Law won the Group 3 Geelong Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Geelong Racecourse near Melbourne, on Oct. 21, a win that moved the colt to the fore of the Melbourne Cup market.
Point of Law is owned by a large partnership led by Deg Racing.
The Melbourne Cup is a handicap. Point of Law carried 116.8 pounds, 10 pounds lower than top weight Sons and Lovers.
The field was reduced by one after Asterix was scratched on Tuesday morning after it was realized by racing officials that a topical ointment had been applied to one of his forelegs, which is not permitted on race day, by a member of trainer Chris Waller’s staff. Waller was fined approximately fined $34.900 for the infraction.
Hellsing surprises in Big Dance
Hellsing ($49.40) finished second in Tuesday’s $2.1 million Big Dance Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse and was promoted to first after Formal Display was disqualified from first to fourth for causing interference approaching the stretch.
Jockey Nash Rawiller, fourth on 9-5 favorite Gringotts, claimed foul against jockey Chad Schofield, who rode 5-1 Formal Display, alleging interference with less than three furlongs remaining. The stewards demoted Formal Display to fourth, leaving Hellsing, 10-1 Matias and Gringotts as the first three finishers in the revised order of finish in the one-mile race.
Formal Display finished about a nose in front of Hellsing, who was ridden by Tom Sherry.
Gringotts was checked on the turn. He recovered to close through the stretch but lost by about a half-length. Gringotts won the Big Dance Stakes in 2024 and 2025.
Hellsing, an Irish-bred gelding, has won 6 of 25 starts, including four stakes. The Big Dance was by far his most lucrative win. Hellsing and Formal Display are trained by Annabel and Rob Archibald.
Hellsing began his career in Ireland with trainer Ger Lyons. Hellsing won the listed Churchill Stakes for 2-year-olds in Tipperary in 2022. He started once as a 3-year-old, but did not race again until January 2024 after he joined the Archibald stable.
The Big Dance field is determined by a series of qualifying races at tracks in the state of New South Wales in the last year. Hellsing, who has won 4 of 21 starts in Australia, qualified by winning the Scone Cup at tiny Scone Racecourse in May.
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