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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Les Bridge is hopeful 2020 Everest champ Classique Legend will be given the green light later this week for a fourth shot at the nation’s premier sprint race.

The grey suffered a strained suspensory when he ran fifth behind Nature Strip in last year’s renewal and a six month spell was ordered to allow him to recover.

Trainer Les Bridge (Pic: Bradley Photos)

Bridge said on SEN on Wednesday morning that Classique Legend is due for his second scan this week and if all is well he will begin a slow build up to the $15 million TAB Everest in October.

“The last scan they were happy, hopefully all things going right he’ll be able to come back into work in six weeks,’’ Bridge said.

“They’ve got him on a rehabilitation program. He’s on a water walker and a treadmill.

“He’s not just turned out, he’s got some level of fitness by the time he comes in so we’ll have to wait and see how it goes with him.”

Classique Legend has only raced 14 times for six wins.

He won the Group 2 Arrowfield Sprint as a three-year-old at The Star Championships in 2019 and later that year finished an unlucky sixth behind Yes Yes Yes in his first Everest attempt.

A year later he was in vintage form, winning the Bob Charley AO Stakes in June, then the Group 2 The Shorts, he was runner-up to Libertini in the Premiere Stakes before winning his Everest by 2-1/2 lengths.

The now rising seven-year-old was then sent to Hong Kong where he didn’t fire in the Hong Kong International Sprint and as he was preparing for an autumn campaign he bled in trackwork and was returned to Bridge.

He had a rushed Everest preparation and under the circumstances to be beaten two lengths by Nature Strip in the 2021 edition it was no disgrace.

Bridge has always spoken bullishly about Classique Legend’s ability, there’s none of that at the moment as his first concern is to ensure the horse is fit and well to embark on another campaign.

“With these sorts of things it’s just day to day,’’ he said.

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