The 2026 Melbourne Cup has been taken out by emerging superstar Point of Law, who raced away for a dominant win at just his sixth start.
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Trainer Ciaron Maher has had a stellar career to date, but this will be hard to top, as his horses collected two-thirds of the entire prizemoney purse on offer.
On the other hand, it was a dirty day for Australia’s other leading trainer.
Read on for our winners and losers out of the 2026 Melbourne Cup!
FINISHING ORDER: Where every horse placed from first to last
DIVIDENDS: What the winner, trifecta and first 4 paid
PREDICTIONS: Who backed the winner?
WINNERS
Ciaron Maher
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 10th and 17th.
From seven runners, trainer Ciaron Maher had six in the top ten.
Fair effort.
In fact, his horses collected more than $6.8 million or two-thirds of the $10.2 million purse on offer.
It’s the highlight of what has been an outstanding spring for the stable.
He took out the Everest with Tempted while exciting colt The Next Episode won the Coolmore Stud Stakes with authority on Derby Day.
There were also Group 1 wins in the Manikato Stakes (Jimmysstar) and the Might and Power (Land Legend).
Neck and neck with Chris Waller as the leading trainer in the country, Maher might have just gone ahead of his rival after Tuesday’s achievement.
CIARON MAHER’S MELBOURNE CUP PRIZE MONEY
1st: Point of Law ($4.5m)
2nd: Zahrann ($1.1m)
3rd: Juja Kibo ($560k)
5th: Royal Supremacy ($240k)
6th: Shockletz ($160k)
10th: Middle Earth ($160k)
17th: Mr Monaco ($100k)
Total: $6.82 million
Maher emotional after making history | 00:31
Ethan Brown
Maiden Melbourne Cup victory for the 27-year-old and his 14th Group 1 winner.
He was on the best horse in the race, but he rode it to perfection, knowing what he had underneath him and not panicking when Royal Supremacy turned for home with a huge margin.
“He showed the perfect way to ride a horse in the Melbourne Cup,” Ciaron Maher said.
Needless to add too much to Brown’s incredible story, which can be foundhere.
Ben Allen
Have to give the young hoop his dues here.
When you’re on a horse in the Cup, you just want it to be given a chance.
Many horses back in the field weren’t given that on Tuesday, but the same can’t be said about Allen’s mount Royal Supremacy.
He and Royal Supremacy led the Cup field by 20 lengths at one stage and turned for home a massive margin in front.
There were a few moments it appeared as if he’d pinched a winning break, but he tired late.
Still, the horse did well to finish 5th.
Some critics may say Allen went too hard, but as the rider said post-race, he didn’t think he had gone overly quick.
Instead, the others crawled. That was backed up by many jockeys, who blamed the slow tempo of the chasing group.
TRACKED: How Point of Law won the Cup | 00:32
Victoria Racing Club
It’s been a terrific two days of racing of the Flemington carnival so far.
The crowds have been outstanding and the racing has been world class.
Derby Day had a crowd of 88,146 – the highest since 2018.
Three days later, and the Melbourne Cup recorded it’s highest crowd number since 2016, with 97,312 walking through the gates.
They also nailed the decision to have Robbie Williams warm the crowd up before the race with an electric 15-minute set.
Most importantly though, the track has played beautifully. Horses have been able to win from anywhere across the first two days. Let’s hope it continues for Oaks Day (Thurs) and Champions Day (Sat).
Favourite backers
Point of Law broke a 13 year drought for favourites, becoming the first horse to top the market when the gates open and win since Fiorente in 2013.
The colt held the top line of betting for the Cup ever since he impressed in his Australian debut in the Geelong Cup.
He was displaced as favourite early on Tuesday morning following a groundswell of support for Hopewell Rock, but in the last ten minutes, a strong late push moved Point of Law into $6.50 from $8.
LOSERS
Overseas Raiders
The local trainers dominated this year’s of the Cup.
While winner Point of Law is UK-bred, he has now been under Ciaron Maher for two starts.
International trainers saddled up seven of the 23 runners.
The best result was fourth (Sons and Lovers) and there were only three international-trained horses who finished inside the top ten.
It’s been a while between drinks for the overseas raiders.
2020 was the last time they tasted success, when Joseph O’Brien brought over Twilight Payment, who led all of the way.
Since, Aussie-based trainers have collected the spoils.
Chris Waller
He had an outstanding Derby Day, but Cup day was the complete opposite for the champion trainer.
He was meant to have two runners in the Cup, but in a sensation, Asterix was taken out of the race at 10:30am AEDT after stewards found a prohibited substance on the horse’s legs.
The anti-inflammatory Penetrene is legal except on race days.
“That’s the rules, no treatment can be provided to the horses on race day,” Channel 7 expert Lizzie Jelfs said.
“There has to be a full 24 hours before there is any treatment, it doesn’t matter what it is. No creams, topical creams, nothing can be applied.”
Waller confirmed the mishap was an error made by a stablehand.
“The horse gets the same treatment every day, 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,” the trainer told News Corp.
“The pressure of race day, a very simple mistake.”
Waller was fined $50,000.
To rub salt into the wounds, his only runner in the Cup, Soul of Spain, tired late to finish 13th.
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