 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.