Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse
Saintly
(21 September 1992 ? 16 December 2016) was an Australian
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who was named
Australia's champion racehorse
in 1997. A giant chestnut gelding by Sky Chase out of All Grace (by Sir Tristram), he was bred by his trainer,
Bart Cummings
, who owned him in partnership with a
Malaysian
businessman,
Dato Tan Chin Nam
. In 2017 Saintly was inducted to the
Australian Racing Hall of Fame
.
[2]
Saintly gained the moniker 'The horse from heaven'
[3]
due to his name and his partnership with jockey Darren Beadman, who at the time was a proclaimed
born-again Christian
.
Race career
[
edit
]
Saintly broke his maiden as a two-year-old, on 19 April 1995, and returned in the latter part of the spring, at three, where he won three races, including the Listed Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington. He opened the new year by defeating the well-performed Juggler in the
Expressway Stakes
, and won the
Australian Cup
two starts later. He was then placed behind Octagonal in the
Rosehill Guineas
, the
Mercedes Classic
, and the
Australian Derby
, and finished in front of Nothin' Leica Dane and Filante, in what was considered a vintage crop of three-year-olds.
At four, Saintly was runner-up to Filante in the
Warwick
and the
Chelmsford Stakes
, won the
Hill Stakes
at his third run back, and was surprisingly defeated by Adventurous, Hula Flight, and Nothin' Leica Dane in the Craven Plate and The Metropolitan. In Melbourne, however, he found his best form. He charged home to beat Filante in the
Cox Plate
and backed up 10 days later for an easy win in the
Melbourne Cup
. He was just the fourth horse to complete the double in the same year, following
Nightmarch
(1929),
Phar Lap
(1930), and Rising Fast (1954), and preceding
Makybe Diva
(2005).
After missing the
Japan Cup
through illness, Saintly returned in the
Orr Stakes
, and came from well back on the home turn to defeat Cut Up Rough. Bart Cummings declared Saintly hadn't yet reached his peak as a racehorse, but he broke down without racing again. Over the next 18 months, Cummings made several attempts to get Saintly back to the track, but without success, and he was retired in July 1998.
Retirement
[
edit
]
Saintly originally resided at
Living Legends
, the international home of rest for champion horses (open to the public) in
Greenvale
, Melbourne, Australia, but as of February 2007, Saintly has returned home to Bart Cummings' Princes Farm in New South Wales.
Saintly died at the age of 24 on 16 December 2016.
[4]
Race record
[
edit
]
1994?95 season as a two-year-old
Result
|
Date
|
Race
|
Venue
|
Group
|
Distance
|
Weight (kg)
|
Jockey
|
Winner/2nd
|
6th
|
13 Mar 1995
|
Yootha Hcp
|
Canterbury
|
NA
|
1200 m
|
54
|
J. Sheehan
|
1st ? Reload
|
Won
|
19 Apr 1995
|
Parry-Oakden Hcp
|
Randwick
|
NA
|
1200 m
|
52
|
L. Cropp
|
2nd ? Silver Sheik
|
3rd
|
13 May 1995
|
2yo Hcp Restricted
|
Rosehill
|
NA
|
1500 m
|
54
|
J. Sheehan
|
1st ? Renaissance Prince
|
4th
|
3 Jun 1995
|
Hyundai Hcp
|
Rosehill
|
NA
|
1300 m
|
53
|
L. Beasley
|
1st ? Quick Flick
|
Pedigree
[
edit
]
Pedigree of Saintly (Aus)
Sire
Sky Chase (NZ)
1984
|
Star Way (GB)
1977
|
Star Appeal (Ire)
1970
|
Appiani (Ity)
|
Sterna (Ger)
|
New Way (GB)
1970
|
Klairon (Fr)
|
New Move (GB)
|
Vice Reine (NZ)
1977
|
Amalgam (USA)
1972
|
Damascus (USA)
|
Charming Alibi (USA)
|
Kind Regards (NZ)
1966
|
Le Filou (Fr)
|
Waft (NZ)
|
Dam
All Grace (NZ)
1985
|
Sir Tristram
(Ire)
1971
|
Sir Ivor
(USA)
1965
|
Sir Gaylord
(USA)
|
Attica (USA)
|
Isolt (USA)
1961
|
Round Table
(USA)
|
All My Eye (GB)
|
Ziegfield Lass (Aus)
1980
|
Showdown (GB)
1961
|
Infatuation (GB)
|
Zanzara (GB)
|
Salote (Aus)
1971
|
Mariner (GB)
|
Dark Queen (Aus)
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]