I was honoured to be a guest on Darren Beadman’s “This Is Your Life” tribute in late 1997.
The great jockey stunned the racing world in July of that year when he announced his intention to quit racing to become a minister of religion.
Channel 9 moved swiftly to feature him on the long running programme before his final day of race riding on Boxing Day 1997.
People familiar with the format of This Is Your Life, will recall that the guest is usually surprised when busy doing something else.
The Wyong Race Club invited the champion jockey to be their special guest in a non-riding capacity. They made a special presentation to him in the birdcage with a big crowd watching on.
Darren was totally oblivious to the fact that presenter Mike Munro and a Channel 9 camera crew were sneaking across the track from the infield.
The jockey was puzzled by the reaction of the crowd when they recognized Mike Munro, but continued with his response speech. Darren was astonished when Mike uttered those famous words “Darren Beadman This Is Your Life”, and handed him the lovely hardbound book.
Later that evening an emotional Darren Beadman was surrounded by family and friends when the show was taped at TCN Studios.
The only time he looked likely to lose his composure was when they brought his boyhood pony “Kestrel” into the studio. The old gelding was well into his twenties, but managed to provide a special touch to Darren’s night of nights.
Because of heavy farewell commitments the popular jockey took only three rides at Randwick on his final day. He won the opening race for Bob Thomsen on a two year old called Igerwin, and followed with a third placing on Connive for Crown Lodge.
He finished out of a place on the Ron Quinton trained Ask The Waiter in the Summer Cup and it was time to say goodbye. In a touching pre-planned ceremony he handed his saddle to Milton Noble, the President of Diabetes Australia. That saddle was later auctioned at a Diabetes Australia fundraiser and brought several thousand dollars.
It’s now history that Darren returned to race riding two years later, destined to enjoy some of his best days in the saddle. The highlight of his brilliant comeback was his association with Lonhro. The pair combined for ten Group 1 wins.