Point Of Law has justified his favouritism by mowing down frontrunner Royal Supremacy to win the AU$10 million ($NZ12.4m) Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
Master trainer Ciaron Maher, who saddled a record seven runners, won Australia's greatest race for the second time.
He trained the trifecta, with Zahrann second and Juja Kibo third.
Point Of Law finished strongly under Ethan Brown, who almost died in a horrendous fall two years ago.
There was rain about early in the day but it held off during the Cup, which was run on a track that was rated a soft 5.
There was drama before the jump when leading trainer Chris Waller was fined AU$50,000 (NZ$62,387) by Racing Victoria stewards, who found his runner Asterix mistakenly had a medication administered on race day.
Asterix, part-owned by former New Zealand international cricketer Mark Greatbatch, had Penetrene administered to both forelegs in its stable just hours before the Cup.
The eight-year-old gelding was subsequently scratched, leaving 2020 Cup-winning jockey Jye McNeil without a ride in this year's race.
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