CLASSIQUE LEGEND CLIMAXES : SYDNEY

Classique legend wins richest turf race, The five year old horse storms home in the final 300 metres of. weight for age 1,200 metre sprint.

SYDNEY : Favourite Classique Legend ridden by Kerrin McEviy, won the richest horse race on grass in the world, The Everest, at The Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney on Saturday, while Veery Eleegant won the Group 1 Caulfield Cup in Melbourne.

The 5-year-old Classique Legend stormed home in the final 300 metres of the. weight-for-age 1,200 metre sprint to seal the Australian $6.2 million [$4.4 million] first prize in front of a raucous crowd that has been subject to Covid-19 restrictions.

Bivouac finished second with Cytrash third. The total prize pool was About A$ 15 million.

The world's richest horse race is the. US$ 20 million Saudi Cup, which is raced over 1,800 metres on a dirt track in Riyadh, with first place receiving over US $ 10 million.

''It's all in the genes,'' Classique Legend trainer Les Bridge said of the gelsing. ''Some horses just get all the good genes. This horse has just got a big V8 motor.''

Eduardo led from the start and held on until the final 300 metres when McEvoy, who has now won three of the four The Everest. races contested, piloted the big grey to the outside and stormed home by more than a length.

The Everest is not classed according to traditional horse racing conditions..

Investors buy one of the. 12 slots available for A$600,000 and they can nominate their own horse or approach other owners to enter a horse and then share the prize money.

In Melbourne, Veery Eleegant, ridden by Mark Zahra, held off Epsom Derby winner Anthony van Dyck with. The Chosen One, finishing third in the A$5 million Group 1 handicap over 2,400 metres.

The race, one of the premier events in Victoria's spring racing carnival, was held with no crowd with the state still under strict. Covid-19 lockdown conditions. [Reuters]