A lifetime working with horses has taught Size a lot about connection, but she was never quite prepared for the conflicting emotions she felt as Classique Legend, the horse she selected as a yearling and has pretty much spent every available moment with since, crossed the line well clear of his rivals in Saturday's $15 million race at Randwick.

"It was the greatest highlight and yet maybe the greatest lowlight," Size told TDN AusNZ.

Size, who purchased Classique Legend for Hong Kong-based owner Bon Ho at the 2017 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale from his breeders at Tyreel Stud, has managed the relationship between Ho and her employer, trainer Les Bridge, and was the mastermind behind the plan for Ho to target the grey son of Not A Single Doubt at The Everest.

Ho purchased a slot in The Everest with one thing in mind, to win the race with Classique Legend. At his second attempt on Saturday, he achieved that goal in emphatic fashion.

But the 5-year-old's success means that Australia won't hold Ho's ambition for the horse, and he will leave Size and Bridge's care on Monday to head to Hong Kong, where he will be trained by Caspar Fownes.

At least twice before Size had convinced Ho to keep Classique Legend in Australia, including once when he was on board a plane ready to leave, but with plans to race in Dubai, Japan and Hong Kong, Ho confirmed last week that her horse of a lifetime would be leaving Australia.

It changed the complexion on Saturday's race, and while she admits she was much better at handling the expectation of The Everest second time around, the looming farewell to Classique Legend hung over her throughout the day.

"We had the advantage of the dress rehearsal last year. We managed our emotions a bit better this year because we knew what to expect. It was a bit bittersweet because we had the news that the horse will be moving to Hong Kong tomorrow. We went with heavy hearts," she said.

"Since he first came to our stable as a baby, he's been in my life. I've worried over him, I've nursed him, I've taught him to be a gentleman. He's everything I ever wanted in a horse."

Size's devotion to Classique Legend in her role at Bridge's stables has become a major part of the story of the horse's emergence to stardom. He was the first horse she checked in on as she entered the stables at 2:15am, and he was the last she would say goodbye to when she left.

Every step of the journey, she was there, working with Bridge to coax the powerful grey to his full potential.

"It's something you can not put into words. It is a connection. From the minute I saw him, he was going to come home with me, regardless of if my client had said I'd paid too much for him," she said.

"If that had happened, I would have been selling where I live to buy him myself. Maybe there's a tinge of regret I didn’t do that now."

Global plans end the dream for Size

Ho's decision to move the horse to Hong Kong may not be a surprise, but it has still left Size heartbroken.

Ho told reporters over the weekend that he felt Hong Kong would be a much better base for Classique Legend going forward considering he wants to race him across the world in the next year before bringing him back to Australia to contest The Everest once again under Fownes' care. He also said it was the last chance he could bring the horse to Hong Kong to train under Hong Kong Jockey Club regulations.

Interestingly, Fownes, who prepares Southern Legend (Not A Single Doubt) for Ho, also trains Classique Legend's talented half-brother Aethero (Sebring) as well for Andrea Tien and Arthur Cheng.

Knowing Ho was not going to change his mind, Size focussed on helping Bridge get Classique Legend ready for his farewell assignment. It was three days out from the race that it became clear to her that it would take something special to beat him on Saturday.

"I was looking at him in his yard just before we saddled him on Wednesday of this week, and I've seen him every day for every preparation he has had for us, and I've never seen him so muscular. If he was a bodybuilder, he would have been winning world championships," she said.

"I saw that in him when I selected him as a yearling. He always had that swagger. I did question myself during his 2-year-old year, because he went backwards, but Les has always told me that a standout yearling will always come back to what it was on type in time.

"Everything about him was just perfect leading into the race. Les was extremely buoyant, but I couldn't go down that path, because I was a bundle of nerves, so I just carried on like we were going to a country meeting and blocked everything out."

The race itself evolved as well as Bridge and Size could have hoped. Eduardo (Host {Chi}) set a breakneck speed ahead of Nature Strip (Nicconi), with Classique Legend able to camp back off the pace further back in the field.

As the field turned for home, and Kerrin McEvoy asked Classique Legend for his effort, there was never really going to be any other horse win the race. In the end, he had 2.5l to spare over Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) and Gytrash (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Watch: Classique Legend winning the 2020 The Everest

"That's his pattern of racing for sure. The speed on, and for him to get buried and have one last shot at them," Size said.

"What impressed me yesterday is that he had to make his run from a long way out. In The Shorts, he sprinted quickly for a shorter distance, whereas yesterday, he was able to sustain that for longer. He's a very versatile horse."

Life after Legend

Life after Classique Legend is not something Size really wants to contemplate just yet, but she will maintain her work with Bridge, who she described as a terrific mentor, and work out what is next.

"I will still be working for Les and running the racing stable, I have a huge obligation to the horses that are in training and the staff. I still clock on at 2:15 every morning and we have all the horses ready to leave for training at 3:45. There's a lot of things I am responsible for," she said.

"I perhaps would dearly love to train in my own right but there are lots of trainers out there, I don't know really. I just don't know at the moment.

"For the immediate future, I'll see through my obligations with Les, and we still train horses for Mr Ho, including a promising one in All Time Legend."

As for her enduring memory of Saturday, Size said if there had to be an end to her time with Classique Legend, there was no better way to do it.

"If you are going out with a bang, you might as well slam the door shut," she said. "At least I can hang my hat on buying a very good horse."

Images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

The Chris Waller-trained mare became the sixth winner of the Caulfield Cup in the past 24 years to feature Zabeel in their pedigree, while third-placed The Chosen One (Savabeel) became the 14th descendant of the influential New Zealand stallion to feature among the top three.

While the regular appearance of his bloodlines among the best-performed horses in one of Australia's great staying races would not necessarily surprise given Zabeel's performance as a stallion, it is still a noteworthy achievement in an era where the race itself, like the Melbourne Cup, has become increasingly internationalised.

As a measure of that international trend, over the past three editions, 68.5 per cent of Caulfield Cup runners have been bred outside Australia or New Zealand. Twenty years ago, that three-year average was 11.3 per cent.

Of the seven Australasian-bred runners in Saturday's race, three of them were descended from Zabeel, and only 14th-placed Toffee Tongue (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) finished outside the placings.

Initial representatives

It was back in 1997 that Zabeel had his initial representative in a Caulfield Cup and what a first impression it was his star son Might And Power (NZ) romped away to a 7.5l-win in track record time for trainer Jack Denham and jockey Jim Cassidy.

Two years later, the ascendancy of Zabeel as Australasia's premier producer of elite stayers was confirmed when his progeny completed a clean sweep of the placings in the Caulfield Cup. In an incredible result for the stallion, the Colin Alderson-trained Sky Heights (NZ) defeated the mares Laebeel (NZ) and Inaflury (NZ). They were the only three Zabeels in the race.

Sky Heights would run second behind Kiwi mare Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm {USA}) in 2001, while four years later the John Hawkes-trained Railings would become the third (and last) of Zabeel's progeny to win the race. In that nine-year period, Zabeel had had 20 runners in the race for a trio of winners and a trio of placegetters.

In 2011, the baton was passed to the next generation, when Southern Speed (Southern Halo {USA}) won the race. The Leon Macdonald-trained mare is out of Golden Eagle (NZ), a daughter of Zabeel. Behind her in third place that day was Tullamore (NZ) (Savabeel), who became the first Caulfield Cup placegetter by a son of the great sire.

The Peter Moody-trained Lights Of Heaven (NZ) became the final Cup placegetter for Zabeel when third in 2012, while in 2013, the Caulfield Cup featured its first winner by one of his sons, when the Lloyd Williams-owned Fawkner (Reset) won for trainer Robert Hickmott.

Placed behind Fawkner on that occasion was Dear Demi (Dehere {USA}), whose dam, Shirley (NZ), was by Zabeel.

The new generation

In 2014, the Zabeel bloodlines were also in the placings in the Caulfield Cup when Savabeel's daughter Lucia Valentina (NZ) finished third behind Admire Rakti (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}).

Prior to Saturday, the influence of Zabeel on the Caulfield Cup had dulled somewhat, with none of the placegetters in the past five editions having featured him in their pedigrees.

But his influence was firmly back to the fore thanks to his brilliant granddaughter Verry Elleegant, who claimed her sixth Group 1 win, as well as The Chosen One, whose third-placed performance provided a third podium position for Savabeel.

Verry Elleegant's sire, the Grangewilliam Stud-based Zed (NZ), has never been the most fashionable of stallions, but has produced a star befitting the sireline in the 5-year-old mare, who will look to become the first horse in 19 years to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup in the same year.

Verry Elleegant is also a terrific advertisement for the effectiveness of a double-Danehill (USA) cross. Zed is out of a mare by Danehill, who also features as the grandsire of Verry Elleegant's dam Opulence (NZ) (Danroad), in what is a 3 x 3 cross.

Her pedigree also features a 5 x 5 cross to the blue hen Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {GB}), while the influential Northern Dancer (Can) features four times in that fifth generation of her pedigree.

Waugh paid $125,000 for the colt by Darci Brahma from the draft of O'Gorman Racing Stables in 2017, one of a handful of Ready2Race purchases she has made over the years.

Trumbull has now won nearly $630,000 for his connections, with Saturday's win the most significant of his seven victories in 20 starts, as he continues on his upward trend early in his 5-year-old season.

His latest success certainly gives Waugh plenty of confidence as she inspects the 226 lots on offer at this week's Sale, with a strong likelihood that she will be on the buyers' list once again.

"You have to do your homework a bit, but we are back here at the Sale today, going around and looking at the breeze-up horses this morning ahead of Tuesday. If I have a bit of interest ahead of the Sale and have got people that might be keen on getting one, then I am happy to be involved," she said.

Waugh, who also purchased a Hinchinbrook gelding for $80,000 at the Ready2Race Sale last year, said she is fundamentally assessing the physical of any potential purchase, with the added advantage of having seen them in full stride in the breeze-ups in the lead-up to the Sale.

"You just want something that is very athletic and you like their action and the way they breeze up. You want them to be quite correct. You get the advantage of that over the other sales, where you are trying to assess the way they walk, and the way they stand and their attitude. Here you get to see their stride as well, which is a bonus," she said.

She recalls Trumbull appealed for all of those reasons, plus a pedigree which showed he was from a family that could run.

"He breezed up beautifully and he was a really well-balanced horse. He was very athletic and was nicely bred and so that was the main reasons," she said.

Watch: Trumbull breeze up as a 2-year-old

Originally sold for $65,000 as a yearling at the Inglis Classic Sale, Trumbull is out of Pride And Passion (Encosta De Lago), who was a two-time winner herself on the track and is a daughter of the G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Calaway Gal (Clang). Pride And Passion also produced the stakes winner Hard Merchandize (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}).

Waugh said Trumbull has very much fulfilled his potential he had as a 2-year-old in the three years she has had him in her stable.

"He's a nice size, he's not huge, and he's very neat and strong and very athletic," she said.

Getting over old habits

In even better news for Waugh and the connections, he seems to have put his old habit of missing the start behind him and is starting to fulfil that potential as a Group level sprinter.

Having broken through for his first stakes win in the Listed Civic S. back in June, he has now elevated himself to a Group winner in what was a very strong edition of the Sydney S., when first-up on Saturday.

"He was flying last prep and the sectionals he was running were amazing, but he was very costly to himself a few times when he missed the kick by a few lengths and threw it away, but he has always shown great potential," Waugh said.

"He hasn't got an issue in the barrier itself and he stands there pretty quiet and he feels like he's going to jump and then he doesn't. He drew bad barriers a lot as well and so it was all very costly.

"We did a couple of things with him in the barriers and when Tommy (Berry) got on him, and jumped him out, he then won on him and he pinged out. His last couple of runs were much better and he did that again on Saturday. Hopefully, he can stay consistent now."

Resuming on Saturday, Trumbull showed a terrific turn of foot under Berry's guidance to sweep to the lead in the straight and then hold off the highly-rated Standout (Exceed And Excel) on the line.

It was a performance which gives Waugh plenty of confidence going forward this campaign, and she will head him to the $1 million Yes Yes Yes S., at Rosehill on October 31 before taking on another $1 million race, The Hunter at Newcastle on November 14.

Waugh believes should he maintain his barrier manners ongoing, he can hopefully step up to elite sprinting company over the next six to 12 months.

"He can measure up to them based on the times he has run and it wasn't a weak field yesterday, that's for sure. It was a very strong field and had some very good horses in it," she said.

"We always thought he was up to that level, but he was holding himself back doing silly things."

Meanwhile, Waugh confirmed her strong opinion of her purchase from the Ready2Race Sale last year, now named Different Strokes (Hinchinbrook).

"He's a lovely horse. He had a little injury but he has come out and won a couple of trials. He's out in the paddock at the moment but he's a horse of great potential, and we like him a lot," she said.