After 322 days off the scene, triple Group One winner Legarto made a triumphant return to racing in Saturday’s Listed Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes (1400m) at Matamata.
The superstar daughter of Proisir was previously the winner of the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) and Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m). She had been on the sidelines since finishing sixth in the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington in March of last year, having suffered a minor tendon injury during a trial win at Te Rapa in early August.
Legarto headed into a tough first-up assignment on her home track on Saturday with only an exhibition gallop under her belt. The Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes has been freshly elevated to Listed status and drew a high-class field of fillies and mares, including Group One winners Provence and Skew Wiff, defending champion Karman Line, last-start Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) runner-up Imprevu and recent Group winners Acquarello, My Lips Are Sealed and Ardalio.
But Legarto is New Zealand’s highest-rated racehorse at 112, and her performance on Saturday showed exactly why.
The five-year-old and her regular rider Ryan Elliot settled in fourth-last before beginning to slide forward around the outside of the field heading down the side of the track.
By the point of the home turn, Legarto had moved all the way up into fourth and was looming ominously on the outside of Fall For Cindy, Acquarello and Moving Melody.
Elliot pushed the button in the straight and Legarto bounded to the lead. Acquarello fought back bravely on her inside, with Legarto’s lack of race fitness beginning to take a toll and her tank emptying. But pure class shone through as Legarto edged away to beat Acquarello by half a length.
“That was stunning, I’ve got no words to describe it,” said Ken Kelso, who trains Legarto in partnership with his wife Bev.
“She’s been away from the races for 12 months and has just that had one exhibition gallop. When she loomed on the outside at the bend, I thought, ‘We’ve got a chance here. Hopefully she doesn’t come to the end of it.’ But what a horse she is.
“I’ve got a lot of people to thank. The Treweeks had her on their water treadmill, then Danica Guy had her on her treadmill as well. The staff at home, our vet and farrier, they all play a big part in getting these horses to raceday. And of course, even though Bev can’t come to the races now, she’s still a big part of it. She’s my eyes and ears. We discuss everything that we do with all of our horses.”
Elliot has now ridden Legarto to eight of her 10 career wins.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t even know she was in work until Ken rang me up a week ago and asked me to come and gallop her. But Ken had her so forward. I was really surprised how forward she was when I came and rode her.
“That lack of raceday fitness was going to get to her at some stage, but luckily she’s got that class on her side.
“She jumped well today. I didn’t want to do too much on her, but she got into a good rhythm and then we popped out three-wide to get going. She worked through her gears nicely and then let down so well and got there very quickly.
“She might have been coming to the end of it in the last 100m, but she’s such a gutsy and classy mare and she showed that today.”
Legarto was bred by Warwick Jeffries and was offered by Highline Thoroughbreds during Book 2 of Karaka 2021, where Ancroft Stud bought her for $90,000.
From a 16-start career, Legarto has now recorded 10 wins and three placings. Saturday’s win took her career earnings past $2 million.
The TAB now rates Legarto a $1.40 favourite for the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day on March 8.
“That’s probably the obvious target,” Kelso said. “But we’ve always said we’ll take things one step at a time in this preparation. Hopefully she’ll come through this run safely, and then we can start working towards our next target, which will probably be the Breeders’ Stakes at Ellerslie in three weeks.”
By Richard Edmunds, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
