Darren Beadman on Saintly: Melbourne Cup winner truly was the ‘horse from heaven’

CHAMPION jockey Darren Beadman remembers 1996 Melbourne Cup winner Saintly as one of the greatest horses — but not just because of his record.

Darren Beadman and trainer Bart Cummings with Saintly at the 1996 Melbourne Cup race presentation.

CHAMPION jockey Darren Beadman remembers Saintly as one of the greatest horses not only because of his brilliant record.

Known as “the horse from heaven”, Bart Cummings’ 10th Melbourne Cup winner has returned there at the age of 24.

Beadman, who rode the stunning chestnut to the famous 1996 Cup victory, said he was fortunate to have the opportunity to not only ride the horse but have a lot to do with him behind the scenes.

‘’He holds a very special place in my heart,’’ Beadman said. ‘’He was such a lovely natured horse, very kind, and a great athlete. He was the complete package.’’

Darren Beadman salutes after winning the 1996 Melbourne Cup on Saintly. Picture: Andrew Tauber

During the autumn of 1996 Beadman was synonymous with another recently deceased great in Octagonal as he downed Saintly in the Rosehill Guineas, Mercedes Classic and AJC Derby in successive weeks.

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Later that year Beadman shocked the racing world by electing to ride Saintly in the spring of 1996 rather than The Big O, who had developed a Winx-like following.

RIP: CHAMPION RACEHORSE SAINTLY DIES

This boy was the reason I fell in love with the "Sport of Kings." Forever royalty in my eyes #rip #saintly #racetrackinthesky pic.twitter.com/rhifjweIGZ

— Ricey (@Riceytweet87) December 16, 2016

Saintly, the horse from heaven who gave Bart Cummings his 10th Melbourne Cup. Now both reunited once again.
Image: Andrew Rosenfeldt pic.twitter.com/IDjbWNVorf

— FlemingtonRacecourse (@FlemingtonVRC) December 16, 2016

@ACummingsracing Very sad to hear Saintly has passed. I had the privilege of seeing him 2 weeks ago at Princes. He was the greatest.

— Keith Peel (@keith_peel) December 16, 2016

While it was a tough choice Beadman’s explanation makes a lot of sense, and it proved to be the right one for that spring.

“While I was riding Ocky on race day I was riding Saintly in trackwork,’’ Beadman said.

“Bart would always put me on him and I always had the indication that he was going to get better with age.

Darren Beadman drives Saintly past the post to take out his second Cup.

“There’s not too many champion horses you get to ride work and spend a bit of time with. We travelled overseas to Japan and I got to spend a lot of quality time with him.’’

Cummings not only trained Saintly, he bred and owned the horse and rated him right up there with the best.

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Saintly made an appearance at Randwick in September last year as part of the tribute to Cummings following the racing legend’s passing.

“I’d raced his father and bred his mother and grandmother. There’s not much more you could do,’’ Cummings said in his autobiography.

“The only thing I hadn’t done was ride him.’’

Darren Beadman and trainer Bart Cummings with Saintly at the 1996 Melbourne Cup race presentation.

As for the 1996 Melbourne Cup, Beadman said he couldn’t have been more confident of claiming his second win in the great race following a triumph six years earlier on Kingston Rule.

“Going into that race it was a bit like going into a maiden on a Group 1 horse,’’ he said.

“I was very confident and it was just a matter of having a trouble-free run and letting him be able to use his brilliance.

“In that era, the Octagonals, Filantes, Nothin’ Leica Danes, they were all superstar horses and he captured everyone’s imagination.”

Saintly won 10 of his 23 starts but only raced once more after his Melbourne Cup win, for a Group 1 victory in the CF Orr Stakes.