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| Staff Writer |
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Connections of star sprinter Masked Crusader can sit back and watch the 2022 TAB Everest field take shape in front of them as the 2021 runner-up is the first horse secured for the sixth running of the A$15 million classic.
The race isn’t run until October 15 but managing owner Rupert Legh said the gelding, who will be six when the TAB Everest is next staged, can spend 2022 aiming at one race after the Max Whitby, Neil Werrett, and Col Madden group snapped him up again.
Werett and Madden are among the owners of Masked Crusader.
Of course, there will be an autumn campaign aimed at the A$2.5m TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) but Legh said the owners are fixed on improving on his narrow defeat in the Everest.
The TAB Everest continues to break new ground – Masked Crusader is the first horse to ever be locked in pre-Christmas.
Masked Crusader started A$12 in the 2021 TAB Everest.
Legh is keen to renew rivalries with Nature Strip in the new year and exact some revenge for his seconds in the TJ and the Everest.
Co-slot owner Max Whitby said it made sense to go with Masked Crusader for another year given 2021 was his coming of age at the top level and all indications are that 2022 will be even better.
And the fact he’s rising six while Nature Strip will be eight and Eduardo nine he’ll be at his peak as a sprinter.