Melbourne Cup result 2026: Point Of Law leads historic Ciaron Maher one-two-three at Flemington

Point Of Law became the most lightly-raced winner in the history of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday, with trainer Ciaron Maher making some history of his own. The 6/1 favourite stormed three-and-three-quarter lengths clear of stablemate Zahrann, with Juja Kibo third, as Maher became the first trainer in 166 years of the race to saddle the first three home.

It was only the sixth start of Point Of Law’s career, and his fourth win. Formerly owned by HM The King and a Bahrain Trophy winner at Newmarket, the son of Frankel had landed the Geelong Cup on his first start for Maher, and gave Ethan Brown a first Melbourne Cup winner, 12 months after he finished third on Middle Earth.

Maher’s Flemington masterclass

Maher saddled seven of the 23 runners, and five of them filled the first six places. It is his second Melbourne Cup after Gold Trip in 2022, and only Joseph O’Brien’s top-weight Sons And Lovers prevented a clean sweep of the top six, muscling in to finish fourth at 25/1 under Dylan Browne McMonagle.

Royal Supremacy came close to stealing the race from the front. The 50/1 shot very nearly slipped the field under Ben Allen, only to be reeled in late on and fade into fifth, just ahead of another Maher runner, Shockletz, in sixth.

Hopewell Rock flops after McManus gamble

The big ante-post story of the build-up never materialised. Hopewell Rock was the subject of A$1 million worth of bets from JP McManus and Paul Byrne, but George Boughey’s runner could only finish ninth, just over six-and-a-half lengths behind the winner. He was still the best of the British-trained trio, with Roger Varian’s Enfjaar 15th and Harry Charlton’s Wine Dark Sea 19th.

It was a disappointing day for McManus’ own pair, too. Trustyourinstinct, ridden by James McDonald, could only finish 11th, while last year’s runner-up Goodie Two Shoes trailed home 22nd for O’Brien, who also saw James J Braddock finish seventh.

Commercial notice: This article on GG.co.uk contains affiliate links. The offers we promote come from operators that we trust and our experts have first-hand experience dealing with. If you open an account through one of these affiliate links then GG will earn revenue. However, we ensure that the money earned goes back into improving and enhancing our coverage of horse racing and other sports, as we look to provide an excellent service to our growing audience.