Hall of Fame trainer Les Bridge has the spring in his sights with his top-class sprinter, Classique Legend.
Bridge said that the grey gelding was likely to return to his stables at Randwick in about three weeks’ time.
The 2020 winner of The Everest hasn’t raced since he finished fifth in last year’s edition of the mega rich sprint event, where he pulled up with a sprained suspensory ligament afterwards.
“His last scan was fairly good, so he’s going to come in and go into light work and we’ll see how we go with him to get him ready for The Everest,” Bridge said.
Unlike last year, where Classique Legend went into The Everest first up on the back of an unsuccessful relocation to Hong Kong, Bridge hopes to plot a more traditional path to this year’s race.
“He’ll have the same preparation that he had when he won The Everest,” Bridge said.
“The Shorts and the Premiere, he’ll have those two lead up races.”
While Classique Legend will be seven years old when he makes his intended return to the races, Bridge used a couple of his contemporaries as examples that age is not an issue for sprinters.
Bridge’s stable star is also aided by the fact that he’s only had fourteen starts in his life.
“Eduardo’s eight, Nature Strip’s seven,” the veteran trainer observed.
“He’s got it all in front of him in my opinion.”
– racing.com
