Classique Legend blew his rivals away to become the first favourite to win the world’s richest race on turf, the classy grey saluting in the $15 million The Everest 2020 results in a huge way for Randwick legend Les Bridge and now three-time winning hoop Kerrin McEvoy.
Classique Legend was ultra-impressive dominating The Everest 2020 results. Photo: Steve Hart.
The punters came late for the Not A Single doubt five-year-old who started the shortest-priced The Everest favourite and the first in the event’s four-year history to get the job done for the punters.
McEvoy won the opening two editions of the weight-for-age buy-in feature aboard Redzel (2017, 2018) and celebrated a hat-trick on the new “Grey Flash”, Classique Legend, in 2020.
The horse improved on his sixth in the race last year and rewarded slot holders Bon Ho including Classique Legend’s biggest fan, Carmel Size, with his powerhouse performance.
“He is irreplaceable to me,” an emotional Size said post-win.
“I’ve been obsessed with him since I laid eyes on him.
“That is a great horse. We’ve seen something special today.”
Size was also full of praise for McEvoy who didn’t get much luck in the race, but kept his cool to deliver the results.
“He is a world class jockey, that’s why he’s on the horse,” she said.
“I’m just so pleased.
“I’m so proud of the horse. And to think that I’ve bought him as a yearling and I’ve been able to look after him…it just means the world to me.”
The might grey secured over $6 million as The Everest winner delivering the goods with a massive finish to prove what a terrific sprinter he is.
Bridge has kept the horse, which he nearly lost to Hong Kong, in work since March and pulled off a masterstroke to get Classique Legend to peak third-up and atone for the Group 2 Premiere Stakes second last time out.
“He (Les) has been so confident,” Size added.
“He has been very bullish for a long time.
“It’s been a very unorthodox preparation but, gee, what a marvel Les Bridge is. What a legend.”
Eduardo led a strung-out The Everest field around charging to the front to hold out Nature Strip for the lead as McEvoy restrained Classique Legend in the early stages.
Caught midfield and wide with no cover, McEvoy didn’t panic allowing his horse to settle into stride before making his move on the straight.
Classique Legend came charging down the outside really cutting loose late to storm over the top of the front runners and hit the lead 100m out form the line.
In the end the $4.20 favourite won by a runaway two and a half lengths over the eye-catching James Cummings-trained Bivouac ($9.50) who made up plenty of ground from the back to finish second.
“I just had to ride my race,” McEvoy said.
“Full credit to my horse.
“Just a marvellous job and I’m thrilled to get the horse over the line.”
Gordon Richards’ Concorde Stakes winner Gytrash ($6) rounded out The Everest trifecta further half-length back in third ahead of the other Godolphin runner in the event, last year’s third placegetter Trekking ($16) doing a good job in fourth.
“I’ve been telling you for three months!” winning trainer Bridge said.
“He’s just got a big V8 motor. It’s unbelievable.
“He’s still probably going to go to Hong Kong, we’ll just see what happens.
“We kidnapped him last time!”
Classique Legend could potentially race on heading south to Melbourne for the Group 1 $1.5 million VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) down the Flemington straight on November 7.
All-in 2020 VRC Sprint Classic odds at Ladbrokes.com.au on The Everest winner have firmed in from $5 to $3.60 and are available in full here.
2020 The Everest Results
| Colour | Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 3 | CLASSIQUE LEGEND | Les Bridge | Kerrin McEvoy | 6 | 58.5kg | $4.20F | ||
 |
2 | 6 | BIVOUAC | James Cummings | Glen Boss | 2.5L | 10 | 58.5kg | $9.50 | |
 |
3 | 7 | GYTRASH | Gordon Richards | Jason Collett | 3L | 7 | 58.5kg | $6 | |
 |
4 | 2 | TREKKING | James Cummings | Joshua Parr | 3.1L | 4 | 58.5kg | $16 | |
 |
5 | 12 | HAUT BRION HER | Chris Waller | Brenton Avdulla | 3.4L | 3 | 56.5kg | $41 | |
 |
6 | 4 | SANTA ANA LANE | Anthony & Sam Freedman | Sam Clipperton | 3.6L | 8 | 58.5kg | $20 | |
 |
7 | 1 | NATURE STRIP | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 3.8L | 5 | 58.5kg | $7 | |
 |
8 | 11 | LIBERTINI | Anthony Cummings | Regan Bayliss | 4.1L | 12 | 56.5kg | $6 | |
 |
9 | 10 | TOFANE (NZ) | Michael Moroney | Tommy Berry | 6.1L | 11 | 56.5kg | $19 | |
 |
10 | 5 | BEHEMOTH | David Jolly | Nash Rawiller | 6.5L | 2 | 58.5kg | $11 | |
 |
11 | 8 | EDUARDO | Joseph Pride | Ms Rachel King | 6.8L | 9 | 58.5kg | $26 | |
 |
12 | 9 | DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Tim Clark | 8.8L | 1 | 58.5kg | $101 | |
 |
15e | STANDOUT | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | 0 | ||||||
 |
16e | TACTICAL ADVANTAGE | Kris Lees | 0 | ||||||
 |
13e | DEPRIVE | James Cummings | 0 | ||||||
|
14e | SPECIAL REWARD | Kris Lees | 0 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
