Levante finally bags Gr I title in a thriller
High-class mare Levante broke through for a deserved Group I victory in a heart-stopping finish to Saturday’s Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham.
The five-year-old daughter of Proisir went into the time-honoured sprint as an eight-race winner from 13 starts, including the Group II Westbury Classic (1400m) and two editions of the Listed Counties Bowl (1100m).
But a Group I victory had eluded the Ken and Bev Kelso-trained mare, who had previously finished second, third, fourth and fifth at the elite level.
Clashes with high-class Te Akau Racing mares had previously proven to be a stumbling block, beaten by Avantage in three meetings at the elite level, and she was a laststart second to Entriviere in the Group I Railway Stakes (1200m) on New Year’s Day.
It was widely expected to be more of the same on Saturday with Entriviere an overpowering $1.60 favourite, but this time Levante turned the tables.
Ridden by Ryan Elliot, Levante was a world away from her old habit of costly tardiness at the start. This time she broke sharply from gate five and took up a prominent position on the heels of the front-running Ocean Point and Tavi Mac.
Levante went for gold at the top of the straight, and with Entriviere getting no closer than fifth after being last to straighten for home, it began to look like this might be Levante’s day.
But another Matamata mare Roch ‘N’ Horse burst out of the pack and drew up alongside Levante, the lead changing with every stride through the last 50m as the pair fought out a pulsating finish. They hit the line locked together, with more than two lengths back to the third-placed Mascarpone.
The head-turning time for the 1200m of 1:06.18 is being claimed by the Wellington unofficial world record.
Meanwhile it was a red-letter day for Taranaki trainer Allan Sharrock with two of his stable winning feature races. The Group II Wellington Guineas (1400m) at Trentham was a sink-or-swim moment for unbeaten threeyear-old Shamus, and he rose to the challenge in superb style.
The son of Shamexpress had made a big impression with dominant victories in each of his first three appearances.
But Saturday’s Guineas was on a different level to anything he had come up against before, sampling the black-type waters for the first time ‘‘He’s a serious racehorse,’’ Sharrock said.
A race later the application of blinkers to last season’s Group III Wellington Cup (3200m) winner Waisake did exactly what Sharrock had hoped they would as the laidback customer found a new lease of life to take out the Group III Trentham Stakes (2100m). NZ Racing Desk