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By Ray Hickson

All roads to lead to the $10 million Golden Eagle for Les Bridge’s superstar Celestial Legend but he’s guarded about the Doncaster winner’s first-up prospects at Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer Les Bridge (Pic: Bradley Photos)

The four-year-old, last seen winning the famous Randwick mile in April, headlines the Group 2 $300,000 Irresistible Pools Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) and if he's to win he will have to do it with 59kg.

Only three horses have carried more than that impost to win the race – Racing To Win (60kg in 2009), Shogun Lodge (60kg in 2001) and Defier (59.5kg in 2002) – but Bridge has the bigger picture in mind.

“I want to try and get to the Golden Eagle with him. There’s so many races on the path to it so I’ll take it one run at a time,’’ Bridge said on Sky Sports Radio.

“I think in time he will run 2000m but he’s a classy horse. He’s run 1400m at Rosehill and won easily too, and $10 million is a lot of dough.

“The horse is coming along good, first-up I’m probably not going into the race as confident as I was going into the Doncaster but I’m sure the horse will run well.”

Celestial Legend, $4.40 on opening with TAB on Wednesday, is the $4.50 equal favourite with Japanese galloper Ascoli Piceno to win the Golden Eagle (1500m) on November 2.

Bridge said he’ll naturally improve on whatever he produces in the Theo Marks noting that the entire has yet to win first-up from a break.

In the autumn he was beaten 2-1/2 lengths by Caballus in the Eskimo Prince Stakes at 1200m before winning the Hobartville Stakes, Randwick Guineas and Doncaster Mile.

What is different is that he’s trialled twice in the lead-up to the spring, as opposed to once last preparation, with pleasing efforts behind Lady Of Camelot and Giga Kick.

“It’s always good when you’ve got a good horse coming back again,’’ Bridge said.

“They were a typical miler’s trial, up against a Golden Slipper winner and an Everest winner so he trialled good for the distance.

“He’s a good horse, it’s a matter of whether he can pick them up over the 1300m. That’s what it comes down to. He’s a classic miler, he’ll run well.”

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have dual representation in the Theo Marks and Bott said on Sky Sports Radio he’s probably expecting more first-up from Bases Loaded than stablemate New Endeavour.

Bases Loaded had a year off the scene after finishing second to Militarize in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes in 2023 and ended a three start Queensland campaign with a Group 3 win over a mile at Eagle Farm on June 15.

“He’s come back off a successful campaign in Queensland, went out a last start winner,’’ Bott said.

“He was very effective over a mile and has retained that residual fitness and had two nice sharp trials in preparation for this.

“He’s a quality colt who hopefully we will see more from this preparation.”

Celestial Legend runs fourth in a Randwick trial on August 30

New Endeavour is yet to win a race in Australia but he returns after a narrow defeat in the Group 1 Doomben Cup in late May.

Bott said he expects the five-year-old to take a run or two before striking his best as he did in the autumn.

“He’s likely to find it a bit sharp at that sort of trip, a little similar to his last campaign,’’ he said.

“I know he showed form in Europe over the 1400m-1600m trips but I think he’s really a mile to 2000m horse down here.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting