Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Point of Law, the horse formerly owned by King Charles III, has won the Geelong Cup in commanding style to book a place in the Melbourne Cup.
The four-year-old was having his first start in Australia and just his fifth race, but he sat on the pace throughout before charging away at the top of the straight under jockey Ethan Brown to give Warrnambool-raised trainer Ciaron Maher his first Geelong Cup victory.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained Small Fry chased hard but could not bridge the gap and finished second, meaning his start on the first Tuesday in November is far from guaranteed. The Irish trainer also prepared Omni Man, who ran on to finish third. Both horses are well down the Melbourne Cup order of entry, with starts in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on the final day of the Flemington carnival looming as their next race start.
Point of Law won a group three race over 2600 metres in the UK in July before being bought by Maher in August with an eye on him racing in the Melbourne Cup for prominent clients.
Maher joked that his mother Eileen played a role in convincing the royals to part with the horse after she was a guest alongside her son at Royal Ascot to watch the race he won, when the connection between the trainer and the royals’ racing operation was forged.
“She certainly would have helped [seal the deal],” Maher said.
The Geelong Cup win was Point of Law’s first start in Australia. It came after Maher had Gilded Water finish second in last year’s race.
“It’s great to win it with such a progressive horse,” Maher said. “He is very lightly raced … hopefully he pulls up well because he looks like he’ll run two miles.”
Maher said he knew the horse had ability, but there was still some trepidation on Wednesday morning about whether he would show his class on raceday. The well-bred stayer quickly put paid any concerns running the trip in 2:27:97 to win by half a length.
Point of Law has 51kg in the Melbourne Cup but could incur a penalty for the win.
The most recent Geelong Cup-Melbourne Cup winner was Dunaden in 2011, but the race has a good record with international winners going on to run well over the two miles.
Brown, who now has several options in the Melbourne Cup, said the horse just needed to be managed around the track, but when he kicked clear, he knew he would be hard to run down.
“I just needed to work with him, rather than try to bang him into a spot early,” Brown said. “He’s a racehorse and he wanted to win.”
Brown said the horse would go to the Melbourne Cup with a huge chance.
Danny O’Brien’s Litzdeel ran a brave fifth as he attempted to gain a start in the Melbourne Cup, while Soulcombe, which has several Richmond players in the ownership, showed his staying prowess to finish sixth. It was just his fourth start after finishing second in the 2023 Melbourne Cup.
Geelong is familiar to King Charles III as he attended Geelong Grammar’s famous Timbertop campus for two terms in 1966.
Earlier, the Maher-trained Murshidi broke his maiden status in the listed three-year-old Geelong Classic, steered to a tough win by Blake Shinn.
Shinn said the horse was “the best stayer” in the race as Maher confirmed the impressively bred colt would contest the VRC Derby.
He showed he will handle the 2500m, Derby as he prevailed in a tough battle with Icy You runner-up and True Tone third.
Both Shinn and Ethan Brown rode doubles on the day.
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