“I got an infection after it, and I was in hospital for 10 days.

"I have never been sick in me life; never had a stint in hospital in 80 years.

“It knocked me about a bit, but I've kicked back now.”

You don’t survive at Randwick without a good one. This bloke has come along at the right time for me.

Trainer Les Bridge on Classique Legend

Bridge was straight back to work at his Randwick stable, where he has been for the past 60 years, planning to get his young sprinter Classique Legend – the good horse – into The Everest.

“I was the youngest trainer at Randwick when I started at 22. Now I’m the oldest,” Bridge said. “It’s all I know.

“The thing about my time here is I have always had a good one. You don’t survive at Randwick without them.

“This bloke has come along at the right time for me.”

Bridge has won his share of big prizes, including a Melbourne Cup with Kensei in 1987. That was the biggest race in the country back then, but Bridge thinks The Everest – a race for speedsters over 1200m that will be run for just the third time on Saturday – has the measure of the time-honoured Melbourne two-miler.

“This race is getting bigger than the Melbourne Cup, it’s a lot of money,” Bridge said. “I wanted to a win a Melbourne Cup. Young trainers now will probably want to win The Everest, because it can change your life.”

Classique Legend is the new horse on the scene, with six starts under his belt for three wins in a career that only started in February. But such is the faith that Hong Kong-based owner, Bon Ho, has in his four-year-old gelding that he didn't hesitate in purchasing an Everest slot at the cost of $800,000.

Bridge has no doubt Classique Legend has the talent to match his more experienced rivals on Saturday but is worried that it might be a bit soon for him.

“He has always been a good horse, and I do think he will run well,” Bridge said.

“He has done everything we have asked of him and, if you look at the favourite [Pierata], he only beat him a half-length the other day when my bloke needed the run.

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“I think he can finish close to him, and that makes him a chance.

“It will come down to the last furlong, and if he is seasoned and tough enough.

“Horses like Santa Ana Lane and Pierata are the ones to beat, and they have been here before. You know what they will do.

“We are going to find out if he is up for the fight on Saturday.”