Is Everest better than the Melbourne Cup and the Golden Slipper? The proposal came from Leslie Bridge, the living daughter of coach Les Bridge, who climbed the Gold Mountain with Classique Legend in 2020.
Of course, her father also won the Golden Slipper with Sir Dapper in 1983 and the Melbourne Cup four years later with Kinsey, long before he imagined the 1,200-meter Randwick sprint.
After the Classique Legend victory, we were dining at a Chinese restaurant – some distance from his old spot, “Mr Duck’s”, better known as BBQ King on Sussex Street – on the land formerly occupied by the old Victoria Park racecourse near Kensington.
After nearly choking on crab sauce and black bean sauce, the realization of the generation gap became a reality when Leslie and her brother JJ championed the modern day event.
They clearly did not get the full effect of the Sir Dapper-Kensei era.
The Golden Slipper, for two-year-olds, may not have been one of my favorite races, but it produced better youngsters when Sir Dapper scored more than the more recent classes. Like Mount Everest, it thrived with a captive audience. Two-year-olds became the flavor of the times.
It’s true that Kensei wasn’t a major Melbourne Cup winner, but it was a testament to the trainer’s sense of horse and great navigator Larry Olsen. Kensei wouldn’t make the Top 10 Bridge horses, but the Big One in the ’80s had even more national appeal. The imported horses certainly boosted the resident’s level, but they wiped out the local intrigue, which thankfully resurfaced last year with Verry Elleegant.
Kerrin McEvoy salutes as Classique Legend beats Everest in 2020.attributed to him:GT
However, the Melbourne Cup is still the race that stops the nation. Traditions and memories cannot be bought, regardless of the prize money.
Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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