3 minute read
They’ve been racing’s warriors and represent a lot of what the TAB Everest is all about – sheer class, sustained speed, and brutal arrogance.
Of course they are, respectively, Nature Strip, Eduardo and Classique Legend. Two TAB Everest champions – Nature Strip in 2021 and Classique Legend a year earlier - and a competitor who always made his rivals earn a win, if the opposition were in fact able to run him down.
We won't see the trio, who between them have collected over $38 million in prizemoney, on the racecourse again but each is being prepared for the life after racing they richly deserve.
They contributed to the evolution of the $20 million TAB Everest to where it stands as the peak of sprint racing and each took their final bow within the space of a couple of weeks.
When you look back on the Nature Strip journey he's a testament to the patience and attention to detail of the Chris Waller system.
It's not unfair to say when Waller took over Nature Strip in late 2018 he was taking on a talent but a problem child. A brilliant student who didn't always know how to put his ability to the best use.
Rod Lyons, managing part owner of Nature Strip, summed it up best when he reflected on the nine-year-old's retirement saying he could never have imagined how high the chestnut climbed – to nine Group 1 wins, an international victory, an Everest and over $20 million in prizemoney.
And let's not forget three successive TJ Smith Stakes.
"It's wonderful to have a horse like him and to Chris and his team what a wonderful job they've done,'' Lyons said.
"All champions come to the end of the road. He's taken us to magnificent heights, who would have dreamt we'd get a horse like him."
Waller describes Nature Strip as a history maker, and a champion.
He said the gelding deserved the chance to make it to a fifth TAB Everest but when it became apparent that the time had arrived he didn't hesitate in calling time with the owners.
"He's just been an amazing horse. Everything he's done, he's done to the best of his ability,'' Waller said.
"He's a sound horse, he's a happy horse, and that's how he'll retire.
"He's had 44 starts, 22 wins, endless amounts of Group 1 wins, the Everest, the King's Stand, three TJs. Thank you to everyone, it's been an amazing journey."
Lyons said it's important that Nature Strip, like every retired racehorse, goes to a good home and he's confident that will be the case with the champion sprinter who now resides with Waller's racing manager Charlie Duckworth and his partner Kathy O'Hara at their property.
"He's the sort of horse that needs to do something, he needs to work,'' he said.
"He'll have a great home and a great life, make no bones about that, he'll be a very happy horse for as long as he's breathing air.
"That's the important part, and that's what Chris always said - we want him healthy and sound when he goes."
An Everest didn't come Eduardo's way but his trainer Joe Pride, and the horse's owners, have taken plenty of pleasure out of not only being a stumbling block and sparring partner for Nature Strip but realising his potential as a high class speedster in his own right.
Pride took over Eduardo in the middle of 2020 as a six-year-old with only a dozen starts under his belt but already a Group 1 placing to his name.
"It's been an incredible journey for the guys in him and it's great the original owners stayed in and came along for the ride as well,'' Pride said.
"He'd had 12 starts when he arrived and it's exceeded all expectations. He's been such a great horse to have around, he's a unique sort of horse and so easy to train."
Eduardo's retirement came a day after Nature Strip and following their 13th clash – while neither won their final race start Pride did make a point out of highlighting Eduardo improved his record against the two-time Horse Of The Year to 5-8.
Their enduring rivalry is something not seen as often as it used to be, that's part of why it was so special, and Pride highlighted the 2021 Challenge Stakes as his favourite battle.
"To see it in the modern era it's a bit rare. Plenty of horses have clashes but I think that's the best part of racing,'' he said.
"When he broke the track record and came back on the inside was his best. Nature Strip had him cold and you saw Nash (Rawiller) hadn't given up on him, he nursed him for 100m or so and made his run.
"That was incredible, the nature of the win was just a ripper."
Pride said Eduardo was right at the top of his game in the 2021 calendar year.
In that year he had seven starts for five wins and his only defeats were at the hands of Nature Strip in the TJ Smith and TAB Everest.
The Randwick 1200m was Eduardo's kryptonite, prior to that Everest he'd accounted for Nature Strip in The Shorts at 1100m and after it he scored a runaway win in the Classique Legend Stakes, the race named after the previous Everest winner, over the Rosehill 1300m.
"We kept going (to the Everest) because it was the Everest but the trouble was 1200m at Randwick,'' Pride said.
"He can't sustain what he does over 1000m to 1200m. But that's the Randwick track, he could do it at Rosehill.
"He was at the peak of his powers in that prep. He was unlucky in some ways to have run into Nature strip so many times but it was good for racing."
The Warwick Farm trainer took the opportunity to give Eduardo a public farewell on opening day of the Everest Carnival before he left the stable to enjoy some paddock life and be prepared to be retrained for his post-racing career.
Upon Classique Legend's retirement, his trainer Les Bridge maintained the grey was among the best horses he's trained but that we didn't get to see the best of him - that's a scary thought when you consider the arrogance of his 2020 Everest demolition.
He only raced 15 times – three of those starts were in the Everest – as a tendon injury and failing to acclimatise to life in Hong Kong meant he only raced three more times after his Randwick heroics including a gallant fifth in Nature Strip's edition.
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy regards Classique Legend's Everest win as one of his most thrilling moments – and he did win the first two editions on Redzel – so was proud when the gelding's owner Bon Ho allowed him to retire the horse to the McEvoy family property on the Central Coast.
It's easy to believe McEvoy would have a soft spot for the grey who handed him a third Everest in four years with that runaway win.
"He's always been a favourite horse of mine. Not only his racetrack ability but just his whole demeanour and persona, he's a really likeable horse,'' he said.
"He's good to be around, he puts you in a good mood, so it was always in the back of my mind to try and get him when his career finished."
With Classique Legend you have to wonder what might have been.
"The Everest was such a barnstorming win and that was only the start of it I thought,'' McEvoy said.
"It is a shame we didn't get to see more of that because he could have been around for a couple more seasons if it wasn't for the illness he picked up in Hong Kong and the hiccup with an injury back here to put an end to what would have been a fabulous career.
"He's a pretty cool character and he's taking everything in his stride, he's settled in really well and has taken to retired life."
It seems there could be some competition within the McEvoy family as to who will win the right to be Classique Legend's regular post-racing partner.
McEvoy said the eight-year-old will be given a bit of time for his injured fetlock to settle down and just enjoy some time in the paddock before his new path is decided.
"The kids and Cathy are quite keen showjumpers, and we have an arena there,'' he said.
"He's a smart animal and I'd like to show jump him, whether that's me or Cathy or one of the kids, eventually that would be a path we could venture on."
Who knows, perhaps we'll see Classique Legend star at Equimillion in the future!
