Sydney, Australia – In a landmark upset victory that captivated the nation, Australian jockey Ethan Brown guided thoroughbred Point of Law, a horse previously in the ownership of King Charles, to take the crown at this year’s iconic Melbourne Cup, widely known as the “race that stops a nation”.
Purchased from the British monarch earlier this year for an undisclosed sum by an investor group fronted by former AFL star Chris Judd and his wife Bec, the three-year-old bay thoroughbred had already cemented strong form with a win at the Geelong Cup the month prior, and was pegged as a leading pre-race favourite. Trained by top-tier handler Ciaron Maher, who fielded a record seven horses in this year’s 24-strong Melbourne Cup field including the second-place finisher Zahrann, Point of Law sat mid-pack for nearly the entire 3200-metre race, even as longshot Royal Supremacy charged more than a dozen lengths clear of the rest of the field for the majority of the run. Brown, who endured a near-fatal 2023 racing fall that left him sidelined for six months, recalled repeating the mantra “stay cool, stay patient” to himself as he bided his time, before making a decisive surge in the final 300 metres to overtake the leading pack and cross the finish line first.
“Never wake me up – this is the dream every single jockey chases their entire career,” Brown, who grew up in the remote outback town of Alice Springs, told reporters in a giddy post-race interview. “This horse is something truly special, a future superstar, and he could not be in better hands with Ciaron’s team.”
The 163-year-old Melbourne Cup, which carries a total prize pool of A$10.2 million (US$7.04 million, £5.3 million), ranks as Australia’s third-richest thoroughbred racing event, but holds unrivalled cultural prestige across the country. This year’s race day at Flemington Racecourse drew tens of thousands of attendees basking in sunny spring conditions, with a record-breaking pre-race headline set from UK pop icon Robbie Williams, who performed with a 10-piece live band, backup dancers and full pyrotechnic production, the largest entertainment showcase ever staged ahead of the Cup.
However, the high-profile event was marred by two significant controversies. Early on race day, fan-favourite contender Asterix was scratched from the field entirely after stewards confirmed a stable staff member had administered the anti-inflammatory and muscle soreness treatment penetrene to the horse that morning, in clear violation of strict rules that ban all medical treatments on official race days. Stewards ruled that while the administration was an accidental error, it still constituted a serious breach of racing regulations, resulting in trainer Chris Waller being handed a A$50,000 fine, which he attributed to an overworked staff member making a simple mistake.
Outside the racecourse gates, hundreds of activists from the national “Nup to the Cup” animal welfare protest group gathered to stage demonstrations against the horse racing industry, holding placards emblazoned with slogans including “horse racing kills”, “don’t bet on cruelty” and “no more whips”, as part of long-running campaigns calling for stricter animal safety regulations in the sport.
Recent polling from Guardian Essential shows that public enthusiasm for the historic race is gradually declining, with only 9% of Australian respondents stating they hold a very high level of interest in the event, and a further 23% noting moderate interest. Even so, more than 60% of survey participants agreed that the Melbourne Cup remains a one-of-a-kind, defining part of Australian national cultural identity. Last year’s edition of the race drew a record A$382.5 million in total nationwide betting turnover.
King’s former horse wins prestigious Melbourne Cup
