A vacant winner's stall and the sobbing of stable staff made for an eerie and distressing aftermath to the brave victory of Beltrois in the Red Tempo Handicap at Flemington on Saturday.

As connections rejoiced in his victory, Beltrois crashed to the turf having fractured his shoulder three steps after the line.

Trainer Robbie Griffiths and the horse's strapper stood for a moment in stunned silence before racing to the horse's side.

Beltrois' injuries were too severe for him to be saved and he was euthanased.

His jockey Ryan Maloney, who was thrown clear in the fall, suffered a wrist injury and was taken to the Epworth Hospital.

He was discharged later in the afternoon.

Beltrois ($21) won the race by a long head from Go The Knuckle ($2.40 fav) with Hotham Heights ($4.80) a nose away third.

But with only the beaten horses returning to scale, the winner's stall stood empty as Griffiths' staff and the horse's connections consoled each other.

The day finished on a better note for the Darley team of Sheikh Mohammed who had three winners at Flemington and another pair at Warwick Farm in Sydney.

At Flemington the stable landed the opening winner, Safeguard, a colt who survived a freak paddock accident as a yearling.

Safeguard raced his way into calculations for the major juvenile races in the autumn with a two length win in the Christmas Season Plate (1000m).

Safeguard ($2.80) led from soon after the jump to score by two lengths in the slick time of 57.1 seconds.

Darley spokesman Henry Plumptre said Safeguard had almost cut his tongue off when he got loose during afternoon exercise and stood on the lead that was still attached to his bridle.

"It pulled the bit down so hard on his tongue that it almost severed it," he said.

"It had to be stitched back together."

Co-trainer Paul Snowden said the Golden Slipper was the most likely target for the colt with Melbourne's top two-year-old race, the Blue Diamond Stakes probably coming too soon.

Gig ($8) made it a Melbourne double for the Snowdens with his victory in the Fiesta Star Handicap (1200m) in which he beat Al Aneed ($5.50) by three-quarters of a length.

Darley's other Flemington winner, Benenden, scored well from a wide gate in the Spotless Handicap (1420m).

Benenden ($4.80 fav), trained by Anthony Freedman, raced three wide throughout but was still too strong for Quicksilver Lass ($7) who had an even tougher run, winning by three-quarters of a length.