Beach Pad gives Shane Jackson a Melbourne Cup day win

Beach Pad won the $250,000 Australian Heritage Cup over 2800 metres at Flemington on Tuesday, giving trainer Shane Jackson and jockey William Pike a Melbourne Cup day win.

The six-year-old gelding, at $11, beat Highland Bling ($31, Phillip and Tommy Stokes/Dylan Browne McMonagle) by a short neck. After Summer ($26, D Sutton/B Egan) finished three-quarters of a length further back in third.

Jackson said Pike’s effort from barrier 10 was “an absolute genius for a ride” and described the gelding as “a bit like Goldilocks this fella, everything has to go right and it went right today.”

“We just kept him really fresh, he might have had one gallop between his last few runs,” Jackson said. “It’s more about keeping him happy, keeping him fresh.”

The win lifts Beach Pad’s record to six wins from 25 starts and $363,305 in prize money.

“Every start I’ve been thinking it might be his last one, but he’s just a phenomenal little horse,” Jackson said. “We won’t make any decisions today, but he’s definitely done his job today.”