Ken Kelso

Levante on-target for fruitful campaign

Posted on November 8, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Class mare Levante didn’t surprise anyone by winning a 1000m trial at Matamata last week, but the manner in which she won it suggests she’ll be an even tougher horse to beat this season. Group Two winner Levante has won seven of her 11 career starts and is known for her get-back run-on style, often[...]

Posted on April 20, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

If Levante is going to become a Group One winner, she’s going to have to wait until she’s a five-year-old. The exciting four-year-old mare ended a good yet somewhat frustrating 2020-21 season when she finished fourth last Saturday in the Group 1 Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa. Ken Kelso,[...]

Posted on April 7, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

It was an agonising decision for jockey Samantha Collett in selecting her mount for the Group 1 Fiber Fresh NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha on Saturday, and she is hoping she has chosen wisely. Collett had the choice of Group One winner Travelling Light, last start Group Three winner Coventina Bay, and[...]

Posted on March 29, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Promising mare Les Crayeres will head to the spelling paddock off the back of a stylish performance over 1400m at Tauranga on Saturday. The Ken and Bev Kelso-trained four-year-old survived a protest from the third placed runner, Duneagle, to register career win number four from just 8 starts and set herself up for a profitable[...]

Posted on March 15, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

The connections of exciting galloper Levante will be looking for an indication on any changes to the current trans-Tasman travel restrictions before making a decision on her next raceday assignment. While one-way travel to Australia is no issue, returning home is a significant headache for New Zealanders, with two weeks quarantine still mandatory and places[...]

Posted on March 3, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

High-class mare Levante ran out a ready winner of her 1230m heat at the Rotorua trials on Tuesday and most importantly jumped away cleanly from the starting gates and will be seen back at the races on Saturday week. The Ken and Bev Kelso-trained four-year-old missed a place for the first time in her nine-start[...]

Posted on February 16, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Trainers Ken and Bev Kelso left Te Rapa racecourse on Saturday evening with mixed emotions after contrasting performances from their two runners on the day. Two hours after quality mare Levante had shocked pundits with a tardy beginning that cost her all chance in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m), exciting prospect Les Crayeres[...]

Posted on February 12, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Ken Kelso is looking forward to seeing his exciting mare Levante take on Avantage again, this time at 1400m in the Group 1 BCD Sprint at Te Rapa. Levante has thrilled racegoers with her fast-finishing efforts, winning six of her eight starts. But in her sole effort at Group One level, she couldn’t catch Avantage,[...]

Posted on January 26, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Two days after her superlative win in the Group 2 Westbury Classic (1400m) at Ellerslie on Karaka Million night on Saturday, exciting four-year-old Levante was enjoying a relaxing morning in her paddock at the Matamata property of her trainers Ken and Bev Kelso. Ken Kelso cut a relaxed figure at the National Yearling Sale at[...]

Posted on January 24, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Racing fans were left shaking their heads at Ellerslie on Saturday evening after witnessing exciting mare Levante take out the Group 2 Westbury Classic (1400m). For those who had never seen the Proisir four-year-old in action before, they could have been forgiven for ripping up their betting tickets up at the 600m as the $1.40[...]

Posted on January 3, 2021
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Promising mare Les Crayeres completed a winning double at Tauranga on Saturday when she took out the opening event on the card at the popular holiday racemeeting. The Ken and Bev Kelso-trained four-year-old has now had four starts at the venue for two wins after breaking maidens there at her last start, with the promise[...]

Posted on December 30, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Talented mare Levante will get her first chance to prove herself at elite-level at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day when she contests the Group 1 Sistema Railway (1200m). The Ken and Bev Kelso-trained four-year-old has won all but one of her six career starts, with the only blot on her perfect record being a runner-up[...]

Posted on December 15, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Exciting mare Levante was in action at the Te Aroha trials on Monday, winning her 1000m heat by a head from another talented four-year-old in Entriviere. Levante set tongues wagging with a stunning last to first victory in the Listed Counties Bowl (1100m) last month and has been backed into $2.80 favourite for the Group[...]

Posted on December 11, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Ken and Bev Kelso would love nothing more than for classy mare Supera to sign off her career with a win. The Sir Peter Vela-bred and raced Savabeel mare contests Saturday’s Group 2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa at what shapes as the second-to-last start of her career. “She’s in foal and she[...]

Posted on November 23, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Sam Collett has designs of a great summer aboard the exciting mare Levante after her stunning return to racing in the Listed Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe on Saturday. Riding the Ken and Bev Kelso-trained mare for the first time on raceday, Collett and Levante swooped from last on the turn on a day when[...]

Posted on November 23, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Ancroft Stud owner Philip Brown is keeping his feet on the ground as excitement mounts all around him over the potential of four-year-old galloper Levante. Brown and his wife Catherine share in the ownership of the Proisir mare with long-time friend Tony Enting and his wife Mary, former touring golf professional Mark Tapper and several[...]

Posted on November 22, 2020
in New Zealand Horse Racing News

Exciting four-year-old Levante made a stunning return to the racetrack as she produced her trademark whirlwind finish to take out the Listed Haunui Farm Counites Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe. Up against a red-hot field of top-class sprinters, the Ken and Bev Kelso-trained mare was having her first start since finishing a luckless second to Gold[...]

Levante on-target for fruitful campaign

Spring targets beckon Levante

Collett elects for Levante in Group One

Impressive Tauranga winner ready for a break

Travel restrictions to decide next target for Levante

Levante slick from gates

Les Crayeres provides pick me up for Kelso

Levante primed for Te Rapa test

Levante on track for next Group 1 challenge

Levante simply brilliant in Westbury Classic

Les Crayeres on song at Tauranga

Group One test for Levante

Solid hit-out for Railway favourite

Supera surging towards finishing line

Collett celebrates birthday in style

Syndicate taking success in their stride with Levante

Levante stamps her class in Counties Bowl

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