Horse racing: Levante to cap season against mares

Levante (left, white cap) defeats La Crique (centre) and Chase (right). Photo: Supplied / Race Images

Racing excitement machine Levante will have the rare luxury of taking on her fellow females only for the first time in two years for what looms as the last race of her season.

The Matamata mare was a strong fifth beaten less than a length by Australia’s best galloper Anamoe in the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday, coming from last to record the fastest closing sectionals of the race.

That was her 10th straight start in elite Group 1 races open to all horses, during which time she has won four Group 1s, taking on Nature Strip, Roch N Horse, Imperatriz, Home Affairs, Artorius, Avantage and Entriveire.

The last time she started in a race below Group 1 level was in November 2021, when she won the Counties Bowl, a Listed handicap which didn’t seem overly strong. Levante beat Roch N Horse, who subsequently won two of Australia’s biggest sprints in the next 12 months.

You have to go back even further to find the last time Levante took on mares-only company: the NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Rapa in April 2021, when she finished fourth to Group 1 winners Avantage, Coventina Bay and Travelling Light.

The only other two times Levante has raced exclusively against her own sex, she won the Royal Descent Stakes and Westbury Classic, both at Ellerslie.

She reverts back to mares racing next in the A$1 million Queen of the Turf at Randwick on April 8, with co-trainer Ken Kelso preferring that to the Doncaster a week earlier.

“It is the ideal race for her,” says Kelso. “She was very good against the best horses on Saturday, and her sectionals were great, so going back to mares’ company should suit her.”

Kelso is waiting to hear whether last Saturday’s jockey Michael Dee can commit to Levante, as he also rode Espiona to win the Group 1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill the week before for trainer Chris Waller, so may ultimately have to choose between the two in-form mares.

Levante is the $6 equal favourite for the Queen of the Turf with Australia bookmakers.

While Levante will miss the Doncaster, New Zealand is likely to have Aegon in the mega mile on April 1, in which he would drop to 52.5kg, significantly better off in the weights than when ninth in the All Star Mile at The Valley last Saturday.

“It ended up being a tough race because the pace was on all the way, so he did a good job to hang in there and he earned A$100,000 just for starting, which is no small deal,” says trainer Andrew Forsman.

“I think the Doncaster really suits because of the weight scale and I’d love to see a little bit of give in the ground in Sydney for the next few weeks for both him and a mare like [stablemate] Mustang Valley.”

Also in Sydney but with a new jockey confirmed is Bonecrusher Stakes winner Prowess, who will now be ridden by Mark Zahra in the A$600,000 Vinery Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.

Zahra replaces James McDonald, who was supposed to have his first ride on Prowess on Saturday but will miss the meeting through suspension.

Prowess is the $2.60 favourite pre-draw for the Vinery in which she could also be joined by Royal Stakes winner Polygon depending on her trackwork this morning.

Polygon didn’t seem to enjoy the very firm track when sixth on her Australian debut at Kembla Grange last start, so trainer Lance Noble will seek rider Kerrin McEvoy’s opinion of her trackwork today before confirming a Vinery start.

“I’d like to see some easing of the track, but at this stage, she is likely to start in the Vinery,” says Noble.