Racing: New Zealand’s $1m winners heading in different directions

Sharp 'N' Smart won the NZ Derby. Photo / Trish Dunell

New Zealand’s two $1 million Group 1 winners from the weekend are heading in different directions for now, but could end up in the same place.

While New Zealand Derby winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart will soon cross the Tasman for a shot at two more Group 1s, the newest heroine of New Zealand racing, Legarto, is coming home and won’t race again this season.

The trainers of both were happy with how their superstars came through their close-fought wins at Te Rapa and Flemington, but their plans could hardly be more different.

“She was wonderful but she has had a great season and earned a break,” said co-trainer Ken Kelso the day after Legarto’s dramatic win in the Australian Guineas, becoming one of the few fillies to win the glamour race.

Legarto had the option to head to Sydney where she would have started favourite in the Group 1 Vinery over 2000m and maybe even the Australian Oaks, but Kelso, who trains with wife Bev, says a rest if the best thing.

“She can have a break now and be set for Melbourne in the spring.”

Kelso joked if he ever won an Australian Group 1 he would be happy to retire but with his tiny team containing Levante and Legarto he won’t be retiring any time soon.

Legarto will have numerous options in the spring but the ultimate one would be the Cox Plate.

That could end up on Sharp ‘N’ Smart’s dance card too come the spring but first he has serious business in Sydney, with the ATC Derby on April 1 and then Sydney’s answer to the Cox Plate in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes a week later.

That will not only mean dropping back from two consecutive 2400m races back-to-back to 2000m, but taking on elite weight-for-age gallopers from Australia, England and Japan.

“That is our plan, the Derby into the Queen Elizabeth,” says co-trainer Graeme Rogerson.

“He is a freak this horse, he has bounced out of the Derby no problem and Hugh Bowman has sought permission to come down from Hong Kong to ride him in the ATC Derby.”

Sharp ‘N’ Smart having two more shots at Group 1 glory this autumn also makes him favourite for New Zealand Horse of the Year should he win one of his two targets, as he has already won three Group 1s to Legarto, Imperatriz and Levante on two each.

Levante does head to Sydney for the Kelsos while the team with Imperatriz will decide this week whether she races again there after her close second in the Canterbury Stakes on Saturday.

PUKEKOHE BOOST

The last major weight-for-age race of the domestic season is set to be boosted by yet another star three-year-old taking on the older horses.

Trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood have confirmed Karaka Classic Mile winner Prowess will return to Pukekohe on Saturday for the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes, with Michael McNab promising to get down to 52kgs to ride her.

Prowess sidestepped the NZ Derby because of doubts over the 2400m distance but should be more comfortable at the 2050m on Saturday in which she looks likely to clash with La Crique, adding some late-season sting to the weight-for-age scene.

“If she races well and comes through it fine then we will look at the Vinery in Sydney,” said Wellwood.