Legarto eyes fitting farewell on Champions Day
Unbeaten filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) may be the talk of the town, but for racing’s sentimentalists victory for Legarto (Proisir) on her New Zealand swansong would be the highlight of Champions Day and provide a fitting finale for one of the most durable mares the country has produced in recent years.
Legarto’s connections are yet to decide whether she might have one last dance on Australian soil before she begins her new chapter as a broodmare, but if she were to seal success in the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Ellerslie on Saturday to take her elite-level tally to five, the case for pressing onto the Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington might prove irresistible.
A final call will be made after Saturday’s $1 million contest but what is already certain is that, as one of only five fillies to have won the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in its 40-year history, the eight-time stakes heroine will be a highly coveted commodity when she enters the Bundall ring on the opening day (26 May) of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Saturday’s farewell shapes as a bittersweet moment for Matamata trainers Ken and Bev Kelso, who in partnership with Ancroft Stud principals Catherine and Phillip Brown plucked Legarto as a yearling for a mere $90,000 from the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Book 2.
Given the early success the Browns had already enjoyed with Levante (Proisir), who flew out of the blocks with six wins from her first eight starts including two in stakes grade, Team Kelso were tasked with identifying another filly by Rich Hill Stud’s flagbearer at the 2021 Karaka sale.
Having been comfortably outbid on Lot 353, who would go on to win two Group 1s as Prowess (Proisir), the Kelso-Brown combination were forced to lower their collective sights and were delighted to acquire Lot 804 from the Highline Thoroughbreds draft for less than six figures.
The rest, as they say, is history, as Legarto burst onto the scene with five successive wins and has since added six more, with none more impressive than her explosive victory in the 2023 Australian Guineas.
“We picked her out as a yearling and she’s been in our stable ever since, so it will definitely be a sad moment for us and her owners on Saturday,” Ken Kelso told ANZ News.
“Levante was obviously a special mare for us as well, but very few fillies have been able to win the Australian Guineas and that was our first Group 1 in Australia, so that probably just sets Legarto apart as the best horse we’ve ever trained.
“I probably didn’t appreciate the significance of that race until I looked at the previous winners, I think I counted around 15 to 20 stallions on the honour roll so to have her name alongside theirs was pretty big.
“She was probably unlucky not to go through her three-year-old campaign unbeaten, some people forget how good she was and for her to be still winning Group 1 races three years later is very special.
“I can remember the day she came into the stables, she was a really lovely filly and I remember feeling quite proud that we’d picked her up fairly cheaply really. She’s turned into a wonderful mare and will leave a void in the stable, but hopefully she can go out with another win.”
Having endured a barren run for the preceding 12 months, the rising seven-year-old rolled back the years at the start of February with a vintage display to land a second Herbie Dyke Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
That powerful performance to overhaul Australian raider Kingswood (Roaring Lion), who re-opposes in the Bonecrusher, delivered a 15th Group 1 triumph for her co-trainers and brought up a century of wins at the highest level for her pilot Opie Bosson.
The veteran hoop resumes their association on Saturday and while Kelso concedes that Legarto’s record of one win from five starts at Ellerslie doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence, previous experience has taught him that you underestimate the mare at your peril.
“Her record suggests she goes better left-handed at tracks like Te Rapa, so that’s the only real question mark but she’s obviously been going very well,” said Kelso, who is hopeful Latoya (Proisir) shares some of her stellar sister’s prowess.
“Her win in the Herbie Dyke was terrific, it was one of the highlights of our training career and was made even more special by Opie bringing up his 100th Group 1. It was great to see her back to her best that day, because she had a few doubters after running well without winning.
“People forget pretty quickly in this game but we never lost faith in her abilities. She was still running third or fourth in Group 1 races, and most people would give their hind teeth to run top three in that company, but obviously she’s been judged a bit differently after everything she has achieved.
“She’s had a few setbacks throughout her career, partly because she’s such a big mare, but she’s always come back from them so she’s very tough. She’s been going as well as she was before the Herbie Dyke, so we’re as confident as you can be heading into a Group 1 race.”
If Legarto approaches New Zealand’s richest raceday in rude health, the same could not necessarily be said of her stablemate Alabama Lass (Alabama Express), who had been anointed a potential star of the future when the Victorian-bred filly became her emerging sire’s second stakes victor, before making a notable impression on her Australian debut by winning the Sprint Classic (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington.
Having returned to Melbourne in the spring and finished runner-up behind Baraqiel (Snitzel) in the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), Alabama Lass entered the Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) as one of the more fancied runners but she put in the poorest performance of her career to leave connections scratching their heads.
Subsequent scans and vet checks failed to detect any abnormalities and after a summer spell, she returned with another moderate display in the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
However, having seemingly regained some of her zest with a recent trial win, Kelso is hopeful the mare can get her campaign back on track when she drops in grade in the Kings Plate (Gr 3, 1200m) on Saturday, when she will be partnered for the first time by Sam Collett.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that her last two starts have been pretty disappointing, but we’re hoping we’ve got her back now,” he told ANZ News.
“After her great run in the Moir we were really looking forward to the Manikato, but then everything went pear-shaped that night. We did extensive scintigraphy tests and couldn’t find anything wrong with her, so it was all a bit of a mystery.
“She wasn’t at her best again in the Railway but I thought her trial the other day was much more like it, so we think she may be back to her old self again. Her work since then has been very good and it’s a drop in grade on Saturday, she won the race last year so I’d be very disappointed if she didn’t put her hand up again after what she’s shown us recently.
“We need to get her back in form before we can think about any firm plans with her, so hopefully she gets the confidence boost she needs on Saturday then we can think about the future.”
Champions Day features three Group 1 contests as well as New Zealand’s richest race, the $4 million NZB The Kiwi (Listed, 1500m), in which Stephen Marsh’s flawless filly Well Written will start at prohibitive odds to extend her picket fence to six.