Remembering Saintly, the mighty horse from heaven

At 24, Saintly’s days of being in the limelight have passed but memories of his feats are as vivid as ever.

Affectionately known as “the mighty horse from heaven”, Saintly was not only trained by the legend of Australian racing but ridden by Darren Beadman, the Tom Cruise lookalike who was the pin-up of the Australian jockey ranks in the mid-’90s.

Beadman switched from Octagonal to Saintly for the Spring of 1996 and his judgment proved spot on, as Saintly won the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup on his way to being Horse of the Year

“A horse like Saintly will forever live on in racing folklore, partly because he was associated with Bart,” Beadman said.

“People loved Bart and so therefore people loved Saintly.

“On Cup Day this year, my mind will no doubt drift back a bit to 20 years ago with Saintly, they are pretty special memories.”

Sadly, Saintly’s career ended just one start after the Melbourne Cup.

He won the Orr Stakes first-up in the autumn of 1997 but then bowed a tendon and never raced again.

In between there was an ill-fated trip to Japan, which nearly cost the great horse his life after he contracted travel sickness.

Saintly was bred by Cummings before his long-time client and good friend Dato Tan Chin Nam purchased a majority share in the gelding.

Chin Nam’s bloodstock manager Duncan Ramage, now managing director of the Malaysian businessman’s Think Big Stud, says Saintly spends most of his time these days with a mate.

“Dato is 90, so he’s the equivalent age of Saintly.

“He’s currently in KL and regrettably has not been able to travel to Australia for the last 18 months,” Ramage said.

“But whenever he went to see Bart at Princes Farm, he would always see Saintly.

“Saintly used to be with foals, a nanny, a companion and a lead pony, but young horses are a bit much pressure for most 24-year-olds.

“He’s done a number of Melbourne Cup parades, he’s been to Randwick a few times.

“He’s been wheeled out for a number of functions over the years but at his age now, he’s not doing many of those anymore.”

Ramage said Cummings and Chin Nam fielded hundreds of inquiries for people wanting to see the ’96 Cup winner.

“It was a private working farm but Bart was very accommodating in allowing the horse to be used at public events,” he said.

Before he was a household name and still a relative unknown, Saintly terrorised bookmakers at the 1995 Melbourne Cup carnival, where he landed a huge plunge to win the Carbine Club Stakes.

The following autumn he beat older horses to win the Australian Cup and it was then Cummings felt he might have his 10th Melbourne Cup winner.

“When he was able to dominate like he did in the Australian Cup, it was always a plan for him to contest the Melbourne Cup,” Ramage said.

Beadman and Ramage can clearly remember the morning they knew Saintly was “a good thing” in the Melbourne Cup.

“I galloped him early on the Saturday morning before the Cup and I had never been on a horse which had worked better,” Beadman said.

“It was then I thought he was almost over the line in the Cup, or pretty close to it.”

Ramage recalls Beadman received many different times on when the Saturday morning gallop might take place.

“A very secret gallop was conducted on the course proper at Flemington on the Saturday prior. There was a lot of smoke and mirrors on when the horse was going to gallop,” he said.

“Darren Beadman had to come back before the races and ride him.

“He ran a sensational piece of work and from that gallop, Bart was very confident that he would deliver another Melbourne Cup.”

After his near-death, Saintly made a miraculous comeback to win the Orr Stakes before tendon woes struck.

“In the modern era, he would have been given a shot through stem cell treatment,” Ramage said. “We’ve had reasonable success now but at that time, the technology didn’t exist.”

The short-lived career gave Chin Nam and Cummings plenty to mull over in the next 19 years.

“Saintly gave Dato and Bart a great time and made their friendship closer,” Ramage said.

“They spent a lot of time travelling and discussing Saintly. I imagine the owners of Winx are closer as a group through their mutual support of Winx and doing these things together.

“It’s amazing how a good horse can bring together very powerful, wealthy people who are used to calling the shots in their own walks of life and owning a racehorse can make them more like you and I.

“(There is) a lot to be said for owning a racehorse.”

Originally published as Remembering the mighty horse from heaven