The bronze sculpture of the three-time Melbourne Cup winner was cleaned and rewaxed on Tuesday to keep it looking the same as when it was first unveiled.

It was like visiting an old friend when Ewen Coates from Coates and Wood Foundry in Melbourne returned to do the work.

Mr Coates cast the sculpture - created by Port Lincoln artist Ken Martin - at his foundry and said he had made the trip to Port Lincoln because cleaning the piece of art was a specialist job.

The natural oxidisation process had broken the surface of the wax so the wax was taken off and the sculpture was lightly scoured to remove the oxide then it was rewaxed and buffed.

It was unknown how the sculpture would weather the seaside conditions but Mr Coates said it was holding up well.

He said regular maintenance of the finish should keep it close to its original condition for as long as possible.