MELBOURNE, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- British-bred Point of Law won the 166th running of the Melbourne Cup, Australia's most prestigious horse race, over 3,200 meters on Tuesday.
The three-year-old colt, which was bred and owned by King Charles III and Queen Camilla before being sold to an Australian group in August, took the lead in the final 200 meters to claim victory ahead of stablemates Zahrann and Juja Kibo.
Speaking after the race, winning jockey Ethan Brown said his strategy was to remain patient in the 23-horse field.
"Once he got that clear running, his turn of foot was enormous. He's going to be a superstar horse. This horse is something special," he said.
The result gave Australian trainer Ciaron Maher his second Melbourne Cup victory and made him the first trainer in the race's history to saddle the top three finishers.
Held annually since 1861, the Melbourne Cup is colloquially known as "the race that stops the nation" and is celebrated with a public holiday in Melbourne.
The race is the centerpiece of the annual Melbourne Cup Carnival, which attracts more than 250,000 spectators across four race meetings held at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne's inner west over seven days.
Tuesday's race featured a record prize pool of 10.2 million Australian dollars (about 7.1 million U.S. dollars), with 4.5 million Australian dollars (about 3.1 million U.S. dollars) awarded to the winning horse's owners, trainer and jockey. ■
