Classique Legend is two weeks away from his first barrier trial and trainer Les Bridge says the hitout will be a crucial spring marker.
The star sprinter and 2020 Everest winner has not raced since finishing fifth to Nature Strip in the $15 million showpiece last year after suffering a suspensory injury in the race.
He subsequently underwent a rehabilitation program and while Bridge has been rapt with his work and recovery, he admits the gelding’s first serious barrier trial test at Randwick on September 1 will be telling.
“He’s had so many layoffs this horse over the last couple of years that I won’t know until I trial him how he’s really going,” Bridge told Sky Sports Radio.
“He always works good, and after he trials on the first (of September), I will be able to gauge his fitness.
“I will run him in The Shorts first-up. That’s 1100 metres and he’s won that before.”
Injury and quarantine delays following a failed transfer to Hong Kong have restricted Classique Legend to just 14 starts and Bridge believes the seven-year-old is still “untapped”.
He has declared the horse to be in the peak physical shape of his career, bigger and better than when he claimed The Everest two seasons ago, but says the caveat is whether he can remain sound.
“Physically, he is a better horse now than he was then. Soundness-wise he might not be but physically, the horse is a lot stronger,” Bridge said
“I think his leg, at this stage, looks pretty good.
“Since the last Everest, he has been on a rehabilitation program for the suspensory.
“He’s had water walkers and treadmills and walking, so when he came into my stable, he had a lot of foundation in him, and it has made my job a lot easier to get him fit.”
While Classique Legend is yet to be confirmed for an Everest slot, he will the fill the one held by his owner Bon Ho if he can prove he has fully overcome his injury.
