Even months later, the significance of the achievement is not lost on the Kiwi pair. “I think what hit home to me about the importance of the race was when someone posted on a website all the winners of the race, and I think I counted something like 17 or 18 stallions – horses of the calibre of Zabeel and Pins,” Kelso said.
The Kelsos seemed destined to train Legarto, just as Philip Brown seemed destined to own her.
They had already been racing Levante with great success. So much so that Brown, the owner of Ancroft Stud in Matamata, was determined to buy and race another Proisir filly. “We had Levante, she was our first Proisir mare,” Kelso explained.
“She was such an outstanding mare with great temperament and great ability. So we thought we’d go back and look for another one and that’s where we found Legarto. So, we were quite lucky.”
Kelso might be overplaying their luck and underplaying their ability to pinpoint a standout yearling.
The pair had traveled to the Karaka Sales in 2021 with two Proisir fillies in mind. Their first choice turned out to be Prowess in “book 1”, but they didn’t have the buying power to match fellow Kiwi trainer Roger James.
James bought her for $230,000 and in March this year she won the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
Their second choice was Legarto in “book 2”. They bought her for $90,000 and split the ownership between eight couples – the Kelsos took a 10% share.
It was not long before they knew they had something special.
“I think it was when she went to the Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa (in October last year), which was a Group 3, and she won it by three lengths – Prowess (3rd) was in that race as well,” Kelso explains.
“She won it with so much authority and I turned to Philip Brown who was sitting beside me, and I said, ‘it’s hard to believe, but lightning might have struck twice’. And he said: “I think it just has’. Obviously, we were referring to Levante.
“So that was when we thought, ‘gee, this thing might be something special’. And, of course, her next start after that was at Riccarton when she won the Thousand Guineas, the Group 1.”