Les Bridge qualifies for “legend” status, like “champion” much misunderstood, but could well have been a real estate tycoon.
The Oxford dictionary interpretation gave legend a liberal dash of myth but modern usage is more ability and personality, to be famous and admired in a chosen field gleaned over a period.
Predecessors were George Hanlon and Bob Hoysted who made the pinnacle in Victoria. Neville Begg, originally from Broadmeadow, is up there but spent his golden years in Hong Kong which takes the edge off the local claim.
Yes champions in the field, entitled to the status, outpointed them with records. Tommy Smith and Bart Cummings were standouts and received just acclaim. Others qualify. Doing it for so long is the contributing factor, and Bridge,86, is still a major player.
Training now is more about corporations than character so Bridge is the last of their ilk.
After Classique Legend and Celestial Legend, developed by Bridge, Legends, mainly under the Bon Ho flag, now abound in races. Scorching Legend will be out to continue the flow at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Scorching Legend was spectacular to the eye if not the clock winning at Canterbury recently.
Bridge instructed jockey Sam Clipperton to ride Scorching Legend a cog below cold. Scorching Legend was three lengths behind the second last horse and got up in the last stride, but is hardly a strong fancy today.
Private Harry, prepared by Noel Doyle at Newcastle, was the opening $2.20 Favourite on the strength of two provincial successes. Still just how good is Theblade with links to the Black Caviar family and what tactics will be employed on Scorching Legend?
Usually, Bridge has been well served by equine navigators although he “wasn’t much of a jockey” and lured away from racing early to real estate by his father, Les, in 1960.
“The money was much better and so were the working conditions,” he recalled recently when dining at the Chinese joint of his choice with Ken Callander, Greg Pritchard, the current, crusty Sky Channel interviewer, and yours truly.
“But my old boss, Clyde Cook, told me I had to come back because he couldn’t get a good track rider.”
(Track riders held a mount down in gallops to the required pace and returned with vital input to the trainers. Now much is computerised but their worth is still invaluable).
Passion overwhelmed the pound, the currency at the time, and soon Bridge was pottering around with his own horse on the side. It developed. In 1961 Bridge was not only a Randwick trainer but had gained 20 stables, and two open yards at Randwick. Why?
The Turf Monthly profile began: “Just two years ago Sydney trainers shook their heads with amazement; in most cases jealousy lent scepticism to their tongue. A 22-year-old baby faced newcomer had acquired 13 yearlings.”
From May 21 1961 to January 31, Bridge prepared 22 winners. The first was Fleur Rose, ridden by Ray Selkrig, the first stable jockey.
Over the decades he has employed most of the saddle greats. After the duck at the Yum Cha I asked him who was the best: consider Larry Olsen, masterful in the Melbourne Cup on Kensei, Ron Quinton successful for him handling Sir Dapper in the Golden Slipper when it was a rough and near tumble, Jim Cassidy on Drawn in the Caulfield Guineas. More recently Tim Clark and Hot Danish. And Kerrin McEvoy on Classique Legend.
Remaining non-committal, he recalled Drawn: “I had the flu and didn’t want to go to Melbourne,” Bridge explained. “Peg (his wife) insisted. Drawn came from the extreme outside. That was a ride.”
We go back prior to Sir Dapper in 1983. Looking for a hand ball player at Giles Baths at Coogee, Bridge fitted the role. My previous sparring partner Fred Allsop, who only had one arm but it was lethal, had retired.
The medical record of Bridge as a replacement appealed: three bad falls, including a broken leg when Yodeller crashed into the Randwick running rail during a track gallop then down again from Lady Dudley at Warwick Farm which ended in a broken collarbone.
Bridge had other qualifications: South Sydney and Chinese food. He started with chop sticks shortly after the cradle and was barely mobile when taken to Redfern Oval.
While non-committal about jockeys when it came to food, Mr Duk’s in Sussex Street, commercially the Barbecue King, now extinct, received his enthusiastic patronage.
After taking the Golden Slipper, the trainer invited Quinton to the victory celebration. The jockey expected Rose Bay and Catalina’s. He got Mr Duk’s, a cog above Hong Kong street food, in appearance but not taste.
Mind you the recent Yum Cha was good but while the conversation covered most subjects, “Tubby” Turner and “Mango” Mullens, aways a feature he didn’t get to when he trained for Public Enemy Number One. That’s another story.
Incidentally, going back to the Turf Monthly on Bridge, the picture of him used, too faded now to reproduce, showed a resemblance to Tom Hardy, the actor who starred in Legend.
