|
|
|
|
Printable Page
11/03 00:11 CST Point Of Law storms to a Melbourne Cup win after late surge
past Royal Supremacy
Point Of Law storms to a Melbourne Cup win after late surge past Royal Supremacy
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Ethan Brown steered Point Of Law to victory in
the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday after chasing down frontrunner Royal Supremacy
down the stretch to win Australia's greatest horse race.
Trainer Ciaron Maher made history in the 166-year-old race as the first to
train a trifecta, with Zahrann 3 3/4-lengths behind in second place and Juja
Kibo finishing third. Maher had seven horses among the 23 starters in the
3,200-meter (2-mile) Group 1 classic at Flemington.
It was just the sixth race start for Point of Law, a three-year-old colt
formerly owned by King Charles III. An Australian consortium bought Point of
Law after it won the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July.
"He's just thrived," Maher said of Point of Law. "All the owners, what a ride
they've been on! It's been a whirlwind, really, but I'm very proud of all the
team.
"To get three horses in the first three spots ... very proud."
In its Australian debut, Point of Law won the Geelong Cup two weeks ago to earn
a spot at the 10.2 million Australian dollar ($7.1 million) Melbourne Cup,
which is staged each year on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally
as "the race that stops the nation."
On a track that was rated soft after overnight rain, Point of Law was up to 20
lengths behind Royal Supremacy at stages but started closing the gap as the
field rounded into the straight and surged to the finish ahead of Zahrann, Juja
Kibo and Sons And Lovers. Royal Supremacy, also trained by Maher, faded to
fifth.
It was a second Melbourne Cup victory for Maher, who trained 2022 winner Gold
Trip, and the first for Brown, who was raised in the remote outback town of
Alice Springs in Austraila's Northern Territory and survived a near fatal fall
in a race at Flemington in 2023 and underwent multiple surgeries.
The owners "put their faith in me, and they've spent a lot of money on this
horse," Brown said. "And for them to put me on it, it means the world.
"And to able to ... win the Melbourne Cup -- I've just got to pinch myself."
Earlier Tuesday, trainer Chris Waller was fined 50,000 Australian dollars
($35,000) and Astrix, an eight-year-old New Zealand gelding, was scratched by
stewards because medication was administered to the horse's forelegs on the
morning of the race.
The medication, penetrene, is used to relieve inflammation but is not allowed
on race days.
"It's a very basic liniment most stables use and I guess the pressure of race
day, the person that looks after the horse, put it on his legs right in front
of the security guard, nothing to hide," Waller said. "As soon as it happened
we knew there was a problem. "I've got to wear the responsibility, it's my
team."
___
See AP's full horse racing coverage here
|
| Copyright DTN. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. |
|
