Point Of Law has won the 2026 Geelong Cup, giving trainer Ciaron Maher a golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup with a colt once owned by King Charles III.
Ridden by Ethan Brown, the three-year-old beat home international raiders Small Fry and Omni Man in the Group 3 handicap over 2400m on Wednesday, Nine reported. It was only the fifth start of his career and his first in Australia.
The win earns Point Of Law a ballot exemption for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday 3 November. The Geelong Cup is one of 11 golden ticket races whose winner skips the ballot for the $10 million race, provided the horse is a nomination and an acceptor.
Point Of Law carried 55kg from barrier 16 and collected the $300,000 first prize from a total purse of $500,000.
From the King’s stable to Geelong
Read more: Geelong Cup 2026 Field and Barriers: Vauban Tops the Weights
Point Of Law was bred and raced by King Charles III and trained in England by John and Thady Gosden. The Straight reported in August that he ran second on debut at Yarmouth in April, won his maiden at Newbury, then finished fourth in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.
He then won the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy over 2600m at Newmarket on 9 July, a race Maher watched in person, before a group of the trainer’s clients bought him to race in Australia. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Maher’s head of bloodstock, Will Bourne, told The Straight at the time why the colt appealed to the stable.
Read more: Cox Plate 2026 Final Field: Saint George Among 12 Accepted
“One of the main reasons he was so appealing for the stable to acquire is that he’s so lightly raced and still very progressive,” Bourne said.
“With horses like him, you never quite know where the ceiling is or when they’ll stop improving and reach their peak rating.”
Melbourne Cup next
Maher has won the Caulfield Cup twice, with Jameka in 2016 and Duke De Sessa in 2024, and now has a lightly raced, ballot-exempt stayer to take to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup.
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