Gandalf, the Melbourne Cup and the Royal Seal of Approval
It’s not only about where the flowers have gone, but for a world needing positive stories and good storytellers, it was a wonderful day to be a writer at Flemington racecourse for 2026 Melbourne Cup Day.
Though what’s billed as “The Race That Stops A Nation” provided enough inspiring big stories and smaller stories and so much of everything, here’s something that Racing Victoria should produce a Collector’s Edition of this remarkable day where it wasn’t all about the “punt” and winning and tipping and spinning outta control.
With race caller Matt Hill doubling as an ongoing narrator and the always entertaining Robbie Williams playing the ever youthful Rock DJ, the entire day was filled with plot twists, great vibes, new stories, comeback stories aand perhaps even a sign that horse racing has entered a new era.
Robbie wouldn’t be miffed about me saying that he might be entering a new career path. He would embrace change.
If this race meeting was an equine led version of “The Lord Of The Rings”, Gandalf would definitely be trainer Ciaron Maher, below, someone who has an unassuming control over Australian racing these days with a team that has gone through changes to become the force of nature that it has become.
Does Ciaron Maher have his own Billy Baggins? Very probably in rider Ethan Brown, who ran away with the dish and the spoon and this year’s Melbourne Cup aboard the Gandalf trained Point Of Law.
In fact, coming in second and third and maybe even fourth were also Maher trained gallopers- and with the winner having been purchased from King Charles.
What kind of sorcery is THIS???
Let’s not, meanwhile, think anyone can take anything away from a vital member of the trainer’s seven strong team- jockey Harry Coffey.
Despite suffering a race fall late last week and needing to have his fractured shoulder operated on last Sunday, that would have been a terrible blow to the young jockey was set to ride the Maher runner Shockletz.
While the pundit nehrus were wondering who the replacement rider might be, more wizardry was afoot with the injured Harry Potter- I mean Harry Coffey, who rides despite suffering from cystic fibrosis- not going to let anywhere near his Shockletz.
He might not have won the Cup nor run into the placings, but more importantly, he showed up.
Resilience is a word often used in horse racing, and it’s an appropriate word for what those who give up so much for their love of horses and riding, but the human resolve shown by this young rider takes everything to another level of emotional commitment.
Elsewhere at Flemington, it was great to see that really good guy Sam Clipperton back to race riding in the Cup race for Ciaron Maher and coming third whereas William Pike, the jockey from Western Australia known over there as “The Wizard” being the only rider to notch up a double.
This might be more sorcery with his recent successes shedding a brighter light on racing in WA and where the industry is creating its own new success stories.
The 2026 Melbourne Cup was something magical.
By the time Robbie brought the event to a close, those there knew they had been part of a day that transcended horse racing.
The racing world’s storytellers will hopefully be busy writing about new stories and those running racing clubs should perhaps read, listen and work towards bringing about positive change.
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