Matamata trainers Ken and Bev Kelso were delighted to tick the Group One box with classy mare Levante (NZ) (Proisir) when successful in the Telegraph (1200m) on Saturday and the focus will now shift to doubling that elite level tally.
The winner of nine of her 14 starts, Levante will be prepared for the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa on February 12, a race in which she finished fifth last year after being slow to begin.
“It was a great day on Saturday and I’m very pleased for the mare to get her Group One, it was well deserved,” Ken Kelso told Weigh In.
“It was a real tough effort and she ground it out to the line and showed a lot of heart and it was pleasing to see that she’s jumping better and putting herself forward now.”
Kelso said Levante had come through her exertions well and would have an easy week with the Te Rapa assignment four weeks away and the step up to 1400m to suit.
“We’ve always thought the way she races and the way she’s bred she should go further.
“We never really believed that she was at 1200m Railway sort of horse. We’ve always thought she was more of a Telegraph (1200m around a dog-leg) and BCD Group Sprint and even further horse so it’s exciting going forward and going over more ground.”
