Now for Darren Beadman’s top five Group One wins.
5. Inspired. 1984 Golden Slipper.
1984! The year Van Halen released their famous album and almost 30 years ago. When Inspired started swooping down the outside in this race, the race caller quotes ‘little Darren Beadman’; the racecaller could not have possibly known that this race would set Beadman on the path to greatness. During the race, Beadman let the early speed go and sat his mount in sixth place. Shortly after straightening, Beadman pulled his mount out wide into the best part of the track and the gelding let down beautifully for the then 18 year old apprentice. Interestingly, the super sprinter and gun stallion Vain sired Inspired as well as the previous year’s Slipper winner Sir Dapper. Beadman rode Inspired for his then boss, the legendary Theo Green; it is a testament to Beadman that Green, a legendary trainer of young horses, trusted Beadman enough to put him on a big chance in such a big race.
4. Mnemosyne. 2005 Thousand Guineas.
The Hawkes trained and Ingham owned filly was a gun. She usually got a long way back and motored home in her races. On this day, Beadman knew that Caulfield was not the ideal place to be getting a mile back, especially with the likes of Serenade Rose and Rewaaya up on the pace. In all of Mnemosyne’s Group One wins, apart from this one, the filly came from last or second last; this day however Beadman sat the filly in 5th or 6th place for the majority of the race. Shortly after straightening, Beadman pulled his mount out wide and flew past a very classy field. Serenade Rose ran third then went on to win the Wakeful and the VRC Oaks, then the Storm Queen and the AJC Oaks the following autumn. Rewaaya ran second and she went on to beat a flying Miss Andretti in a Group One sprint race. The way Beadman positioned his mount closer was a race winning move that allowed the filly to win the Group One Classic almost as she wanted.
3. Super Impose. 1991 Doncaster.
This was Super Impose’s second consecutive Doncaster victory and he carried 59.5kg which is the biggest ever metric weight carried to victory in the mile Classic. In a remarkable two year period, Super won both the Doncaster and the Epsom in 1990 and 1991. However his second Doncaster win, the win that has made the Beadman top 5 is definitely the best of the four Classic mile victories. Beadman positioned Super Impose at the rear of the field and for the entire trip the pair just sat at the rear and bided their time, not spending a dollar in petrol. Upon straightening, Beadman eased Super Impose out wide, let him balance with the big weight, and then started the big engine. From last at the 400m to first with three feet to run in the race, running past quality Group One performers, some of who had 10kg less than Super. Beadamn even managed to keep his momentum and balance after two significant bumps, one at the 300m and one at the 250m. The way Beadman just eased, balanced and went bang was simply brilliant. He had a plan and stuck to it. He did not panic when he was still last approaching the turn as many jockeys would have.
2. Saintly. 1996 Melbourne Cup.
In winning this race, Saintly become one of the rare horses to win the Cox Plate – Melbourne Cup double in one year. It has only been done by five horses; Makybe Diva, Phar Lap, Rising Fast, Nightmarch and Saintly. These five horses all sit comfortably in the top 20 best horses Australia has ever seen. On the morning of the 1996 Melbourne Cup, Bart Cummings said in the press that the European import and favourite for the race Oscar Schindler was the best looking horse he seen in years and would be close to unbeatable. Whether or not Bart was foxing is up for debate, because his horse Saintly with Beadman aboard absolutely smashed the field. Shortly after straightening, Beadman did what he did on Cox Plate day and balanced up Saintly before letting off the brakes. Saintly exploded to the lead and his huge stride and fluent action looked majestic in bounding to a huge lead before Beadman eased his mount up. Beadman managed to again, like in the rest of this countdown, balanced his mount as to produce the best possible turn of foot late in the race.
1. Lonhro. 2002 Yalumba Stakes.
This was a race for the ages and definitely the best ride by Beadman in a Group One race. Sunline jumped to an early lead and got there in one stride. Straight away Beadman realised that if Sunline got another 100m in front at a canter, there was not a horse on earth, maybe in the history of Australian racing that would be able to get past her up the short Caulfield straight. So instead of positioning Lonhro slightly back in the field as he usually did, Beadman got the colt right up to Sunline’s backside. For the entire race, Beadman did not let Sunline get more than a few feet away from his nose and he made sure Sunline did not get to relax for very long at a time. Upon straightening, Sunline cornered like a greyhound and Lonhro drifted out a little bit. Beadman did not panic, and again he let his colt settle and balance then launched his final attack. It is a credit to Sunline that Lonhro only got past her in the last 20m, because she was almost at the end of her career and Lonhro was just getting better and better. History shows that Lonhro only won by ¼ of a length, but that is equal to a five length win over any other horse. Beadman won the race in the first 100m, not the last 100m. It was a stunning ride and a super race.
By Zeb Armstrong
