Point Of Law wins the Melbourne Cup – and rescues JP McManus’s A$2m night
The Limerick punter’s A$1m headline bet on Hopewell Rock never got involved, but a late wager on the former royal runner turned a costly Cup into a winning one.
18+ | Advertiser disclosure: this site may earn commission from links to bookmakers. Please bet responsibly – help at GamblingCare.ie.
Point Of Law, the horse bought from King Charles after his Bahrain Trophy win at Newmarket in July, came from off the pace to win the Melbourne Cup at Flemington by three and three-quarter lengths under Ethan Brown.
It was a remarkable day for trainer Ciaron Maher. He saddled seven of the 23 runners and filled the first three places, with Zahrann second and Juja Kibo third. It is reported to be the first time one trainer has done that in the race’s history, and five of the first six home came from his yard.
For Irish punters, the bigger story was the night before. At Melbourne’s Call of the Card function, JP McManus and his betting partner Paul Byrne staked more than A$2 million across eight horses – including a A$1 million bet on the George Boughey-trained Hopewell Rock. That one went down. But they had also backed Point Of Law to win A$2m at 15-2.
How the race was run
Maher’s outsider Royal Supremacy went straight to the front and was allowed to build a huge advantage – reported at up to 20 lengths at one stage. Nobody in the main pack wanted to chase, so the rest of the field crawled along behind him.
That shaped everything. Brown kept Point Of Law settled in the chasing group, and once the pack finally quickened and he found room, the Frankel colt had the turn of foot to sweep past the tiring leader and pull clear. Royal Supremacy still held on for fifth.
The same pace scenario killed Hopewell Rock’s chance. Sent off at 13-2, he was caught flat-footed when the tempo lifted and could only stay on for ninth. His jockey Zac Lloyd summed it up: the field went ridiculously slow bar the leader
.
Full result
| Pos | Horse | Trainer | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point Of Law | Ciaron Maher | – |
| 2 | Zahrann | Ciaron Maher | 3.75L |
| 3 | Juja Kibo | Ciaron Maher | 3.81L |
| 4 | Sons And LoversIRE | Joseph O’Brien | 5.06L |
| 5 | Royal Supremacy | Ciaron Maher | 5.16L |
| 6 | Shockletz | Ciaron Maher | 5.56L |
| 7 | James J BraddockIRE | Joseph O’Brien | 6.06L |
| 8 | So You Are | Bjorn Baker | 6.41L |
| 9 | Hopewell Rock | George Boughey | 6.66L |
| 10 | Middle Earth | Ciaron Maher | 7.41L |
| 11 | TrustyourinstinctIRE | Joseph O’Brien | 7.71L |
| 12 | Knight’s Choice | John Symons & Sheila Laxon | 8.01L |
| 13 | Soul Of Spain | Chris Waller | 9.01L |
| 14 | Zakouma | Grahame Begg | 10.51L |
| 15 | Enfjaar | Roger Varian | 13.26L |
| 16 | KizlyarIRE | Joseph O’Brien | 14.26L |
| 17 | Mr Monaco | Ciaron Maher | 14.41L |
| 18 | Strictly Business | Thomas Carberry | 16.91L |
| 19 | Wine Dark Sea | Harry Charlton | 19.66L |
| 20 | Future History | Gregory Hickman | 20.91L |
| 21 | Onesmoothoperator | Tim Fitzsimmons | 23.41L |
| 22 | Goodie Two ShoesIRE | Joseph O’Brien | 25.66L |
| 23 | Vauban | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 30.16L |
Margins are cumulative from the winner. Scratched: Asterix (Chris Waller) – withdrawn by stewards on race morning after a topical treatment was found on his forelegs; Waller was fined A$50,000.
How the McManus–Byrne bets fared
At Call of the Card the outsiders are priced up first, and the pair worked their way through the field from there. Here’s every bet reported on the night, and how each horse finished.
| Horse | Bet | Finished | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soul Of Spain | To win A$2m at 33-1 | 13th | Lost |
| Zakouma | To win A$2m at 40-1 | 14th | Lost |
| Goodie Two Shoes | To win A$2m at 25-1 | 22nd | Lost |
| So You Are | To win A$2m at 13-1, plus A$500k if placed | 8th | Lost |
| James J Braddock | A$150k at 20-1 | 7th | Lost |
| Hopewell Rock | A$1m at 9-1 to 8-1 | 9th | Lost |
| Trustyourinstinct | A$100k at 6-1 | 11th | Lost |
| Point Of Law | To win A$2m at 15-2 | 1st | Won |
Bets as reported from the Call of the Card function on 2 November.
McManus said afterwards they had made Hopewell Rock their main bet because they saw him as the most likely winner
at a generous price. On a stamina-and-class view that made sense: he’d run well in the Ebor and was unexposed. What nobody could price in was a race that turned into a sprint behind a runaway leader.
Our take: did they come out ahead?
Probably yes, and only just. By our rough sums, the seven losing win bets cost about A$1.6m in stakes. The Point Of Law bet risked roughly A$267k to win A$2m – about £1.04m, or around €1.25m.
That leaves the pair around A$400,000 up before the So You Are place bet, whose stake wasn’t reported. That’s a healthy night for most of us, but a thin margin on a A$2m book.
The lesson for Irish punters is about pace, not form. In a 23-runner handicap, a runaway leader and a field that refuses to chase favours horses with a turn of foot over pure stayers. Spreading stakes across several runners is also why one late bet saved the night here.
The Irish angle
Joseph O’Brien ran five and had the best of the Irish-trained runners with Sons And Lovers, fourth under Dylan Browne McMonagle. James J Braddock ran with credit from the widest draw, stall 24, to finish seventh. McManus’s own pair were well beaten: Trustyourinstinct was 11th, and last year’s runner-up Goodie Two Shoes trailed in 22nd.
McManus came away full of praise for the Call of the Card format, where bookmakers lay bets live on stage. He suggested racing at home could learn from it, but don’t expect to see it at Leopardstown just yet.
Sources: Racing Post, Sportstralia, ABC News, SEN.
