Legarto won fresh-up last season and returns to the trials today to prepare for a huge summer. Photo / Kenton Wright
You can’t bet on the best horse heading to the Te Aroha races today.
But, all going well, you might be able to back the outstanding mare Legarto as soon as next week.
The big-bummed glamour girl of New Zealand racing returns after a luckless spring in the trials to be run at 1pm before the first race at the Te Aroha meeting today.
And co-trainer Ken Kelso is hoping to put a rollercoaster spring with both her and standout stablemate Alabama Lass behind him over the next two months.
Legarto wasn’t ideally suited by the distance or the wet track in the first two legs of the spring Triple Crown, then missed the last leg, the Livamol at Ellerslie, because of a hoof issue.
She returned to public looking sharp in a Tauranga exhibition gallop 11 days ago and Kelso, who trains in partnership with his wife Bev Kelso, says if Legarto does what he hopes today, she could head to the $400,000 Mufhasa Classic at Trentham on December 6.
“We are very happy with her,” Ken Kelso said.
“Vinnie [Colgan] rode her in her exhibition gallop and said she felt the best she has all season.
“So if she trials as we hope and then comes through it well, we could head to Trentham for the Group 1.
“But we also have the option, if that doesn’t all come together, we have the Cal Isuzu Stakes at Te Rapa the following Saturday as an option.”
Legarto’s exhibition gallop caught the attention of bookies as the multiple Group 1 winner now finds herself sharing $4.50 favouritism for the TAB Mufhasa with La Crique and Waitak.
Captured By Love, who trials against Legarto today, is rated a $10 chance in the Mufhasa.
Safely through a trip to Trentham, Legarto could step straight up to 2000m in the $500,000 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, for which she sits at $7 in the TAB market.
The Kelsos have another Group 1 favourite just starting her preparation for the Sistema Railway, with Alabama Lass up to three-quarter pace in her work last Saturday.
She was a close fresh-up second in the Moir Stakes at The Valley on September 6 before something went amiss when she dropped out to finish last in the Manikato Stakes back at The Valley on September 26.
“We think she may have flipped her soft palate in the race so we will play around with a tongue tie to help with that,” Kelso said.
“But that aside, she is coming up very well. She has put some weight on and looks really good but we are facing having to go into the Railway fresh-up, with probably only a trial in mid-January.”
That shouldn’t concern punters too much, as Alabama Lass went into the Railway having not raced for two months after finishing second in the 1000 Guineas last season and only went down by a short head to Crocetti in our richest sprint.
The Railway at Ellerslie on Karaka Millions night (January 24) could have a new surprise player in Victorian galloper Jigsaw, who won the A$1 million ($1.15m) Meteorite at Cranbourne on Saturday.
Trainer Cindy Alderson has been contacted by Auckland Thorougbred Racing and is now considering the $700,000 dash with Jigsaw, who has won three of his four starts this campaign.
He was ridden in the Meteorite by New Zealand apprentice Logan Bates and has gone straight into the Railway market as a $5 equal third favourite.
The O’Sullivan/Scott stable have two Trentham Group 1 races clearly in their sights after pleasing trials at Taupō on Tuesday.
The stable’s spring star Waitak pleased co-trainer Andrew Scott when going to the line well-held in the opening 1100m catchweight yesterday and is confirmed to head to Trentham for the TAB Mufhasa Classic at Trentham on Saturday week.
Also pleasing their team were sprinting mares Tomodachi and Grail Seeker in very different trial efforts.
Tomodachi looked big and bold, leading and winning her trial under a hold, while Grail Seeker was never asked for her best in the next heat but looked great in condition.
Both mares head to the Group 1 TAB Telegraph at Trentham on January 3, a race Grail Seeker won last season.
“She had a short spell and put on 20kgs so we are really happy with her [Grail Seeker] and Tomodachi,” Scott said.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.