King Charles makes Point Of Law Down Under

Melbourne Cup-winning colt was sold by royal family three months ago. King Charles III of the UK said the horserace he’d like to win above all others was the fabled Melbourne Cup in Australia. Well, now he’s done it. Sort of. Three months ago, Charles’s stable sold a colt called Point Of Law to a bunch of Aussies. This week, at Flemington racecourse, that three-year-old won the A$10-million Grade 1 Melbourne Cup – the “race that stops a nation”. Point Of Law wasn’t carrying the famous royal silks of purple, red and gold when he flashed past the post 3.75 lengths clear of his 22 rivals – the winning colours being a rather plebian blue stripe. Everyone said Charles and Queen Camilla must be kicking themselves for selling the beast and missing out on the glory. Truth is, though, the British royals are still credited as winners, as the registered breeders of Point Of Law, from their mare Portfolio – an import from Japan, nowadays the world’s thoroughbred pedigree hotspot. Charles (or possibly his late mother) cleverly (and expensively) sent Portfolio to super sire Frankel. The House of Windsor gets major plaudits for that – and a ceremonial halter for the trophy cabinet; a décor upgrade to any palace or country house. Point Of Law started his career for the king out of the posh training yard of John and Thady Gosden. And he was successful, even winning the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July. The royal racing operation has a routine policy of selling off a portion of their homebred colts and Point Of Law was considered surplus to requirements. Some likely lads from Down Under met Charles and Camilla at Royal Ascot earlier this year and secured the colt for a rumoured A$3-million. An original plan for the king to keep a share in the new owner partnership was scuppered when it was pointed out the sovereign isn’t allowed business dealings with subjects – even colonial ones. The new syndicate sent their horse to top Australian trainer Ciaron Maher, where he thrived and won the Grade 3 Geelong Cup in Victoria – a traditional pointer to the Melbourne Cup. Point Of Law was just one of seven Maher runners in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup and led home an unprecedented trifecta for a trainer. Stablemates Zahraan and Juja Kibo were second and third.It was Maher’s second Melbourne Cup victory following Gold Trip in 2022. Horse racing is a never-ending source of colourful stories. Another one this time is winning jockey Ethan Brown’s comeback story. Brown nearly died at Flemington in 2023 when he had an horrific fall and suffered a lacerated liver, damaged kidney, three fractured vertebrae, a severed artery and the loss of five litres of blood. He was put into a medically induced coma for three days and a promising career looked over. But getting back in the saddle “…was just something burning inside me. “I was inches from losing my life and thought maybe it wasn’t worth it … but, a bit of time off, I realised I wasn’t very good at anything else. “I woke up one day and thought I need to get back riding again.” Brown credits Maher, too: “He’s done nothing but support me and back me. I’ve buggered up plenty of times on his horses and he’s had nothing but faith. He’s believed in me and shown that by putting me on.” Of Point Of Law, Brown says: “I thought he had the best turn of foot in the race by far. He was shuffled back a bit further than I would have liked and I was trying to get him settled … I had to stay cool, stay patient, cut the bend and, once he got that clear run in, his turn of foot was enormous.“He’s going to be a superstar; he’s something special.”