Melbourne Cup: Ciaron Maher trains an unprecedented top three
· BehindLines newsroom
Ciaron Maher achieved an unprecedented result in Melbourne Cup history at Flemington on Tuesday, November 3. His horses Point Of Law, Zahrann and Juja Kibo filled the first three places in the Australian race. The Victoria Racing Club, which organises the event, described the finish as the first time one trainer had supplied all three placed horses in its 166 editions. Ethan Brown rode Point Of Law to victory.
Run over 3,200 metres, the race ended with a clear win for Point Of Law, who finished three and three-quarter lengths ahead of Zahrann. The report from Races.com.au gives a winning time of 3 minutes 21.88 seconds. Brown waited for an opening before asking his horse to go forward. Point Of Law accelerated in the closing part of the race to take command and secure the win.
Zahrann, ridden by Ben Melham, narrowly beat Juja Kibo, whose jockey was Sam Clipperton. Sons And Lovers, trained by Joseph O’Brien, finished fourth. Maher had seven runners in the race and trained five of the first six finishers, according to ABC. This was also his second Melbourne Cup victory, following the one he secured with Gold Trip in 2022, when he trained in partnership with David Eustace.
Point Of Law also stood out for his limited racing experience: this was only the sixth start of his career. The VRC described him as the winner with the fewest previous races since the event became international in 1993. He had won the Geelong Cup on his Australian debut, and became the first horse to complete that double since Dunaden in 2011.
The meeting attracted 97,112 spectators, according to the attendance figure released by the Victoria Racing Club. It was the largest Melbourne Cup Day crowd since 2016. That turnout accompanied an edition whose central sporting achievement was the dominance of Maher’s training operation: three horses, ridden by three different jockeys, taking the first three places in the principal race on the day’s programme for the same trainer.