Emotional Hayes hails Mr Brightside's return
Moments after the post-race cheers for Beiwacht had died down as the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes field returned to scale, another mounting yard celebration roared into action.
It didn’t come from the stable of the runaway winner, but rather from another large group of connections who could have easily passed themselves off as winning owners such was their unbridled delight at what they had just seen.
The Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) crew felt just like winners in the moments after the first Victorian Group One race of the season. Their nine-year-old, who was having his first run for 2026 due to fetlock issues, had run bravely for second and in doing so, erased any of the fears that the magnificent ride with the former Kiwi over the past five seasons might be coming to an end.
The performance hit co-trainer Ben Hayes harder than he thought it might. “It’s hard to explain just how I feel,” he said. “So proud and so emotional after the race. It really got to me.
“He’s an amazing horse. He just kept fighting back and his strongest work was through the line. We’ve never shown him at trackwork, and it just shows, he turns up on race day.”
The Lindsay Park team don’t have to think too hard about what to do next with the winner of more than $19 million as he had won the past three Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.
“We’ll either take on Sheza Alibi (in the Makybe Dica Stakes in two weeks) or go to Sydney and take on Autumn Glow,” Hayes said. “But I think we’ll stay here and go for a fourth Makybe Diva.
“He’s always been lazy at trackwork so I’ve never been confident going into a race, but we had him the most forward we’ve ever had him going in first-up and to tell you the truth, it’s the best he’s looked first-up so he’s going to thrive through the spring.
“He’s going to look better and better every start. He’s sound and happy and he’s showed everyone he’s still go it.
“I was emotional after the race, and I didn’t expect that but he’s just such a fabulous horse.” - Racing.com
Peters weighs up Cosmic Crusader's options
Australian breeder-owner Bob Peters is undecided which race his Group One winner Cosmic Crusader (NZ) (Maurice) will next contest, following his luckless run in Saturday’s Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
The New Zealand born son of Maurice will either line up in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 12, or the Gr.1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield a week later.
If Cosmic Crusaders goes to the Makybe Diva, he will likely bump into Peter Moddy and Katherine Coleman’s gun mare Sheza Alibi.
“I’m undecided at this stage. I’ll give it some thought and make a decision in due course,” Peters told Racing.com.
Cosmic Crusader is rated an $8 chance in pre-post Makybe Diva Stakes markets, with Sheza Alibi all the rage at $1.70, while in the Underwood Stakes, he is a $4.50 second favourite behind Aeliana ($3.50).
A winner of the Gr.1 Northerly Stakes (1800m) in December when prepared by Michael Grantham, Cosmic Crusader finished third in the Memsie, 3.35 lengths behind the winner, Beiwacht.
After jumping from his wide alley (11 of 12), jockey William Pike took Cosmic Crusader back to last. After Pike pulled out, his mount was inconvenienced by Angel Capital at the 600m and gave Beiwacht a big margin at the top of the straight before working home well.
The Andrea Leek-trained six-year-old is on a Cox Plate path. Cosmic Crusader is a $15 hope for the 2040-metre Group One, which will be run at Flemington on October 24. - Racing.com
Vale Bev Kelso
Group One-winning trainer Bev Kelso passed away on Saturday, aged 80.
She was one half of one of the most revered training partnerships in the country, alongside her husband Ken, with the Matamata couple having a strike-rate envied by many.
Hailing from Bay of Plenty, Bev was a competitive showjumper in her youth, and it was while competing in the sport that she met Ken. Bev began pre-training racehorses in the late 1970s and eventually took out her trainer’s license in 1977. She was joined in partnership by her husband a year later, and the couple moved to Matamata shortly after.
The Kelsos have been hands-on trainers, preferring to operate a boutique-sized stable, and their methods have produced plenty of success over the last five decades. Their roll of honour includes Group One winners Xanadu, Bounding, Love Dance, Perfect Fit, Envoy, Levante and Legarto, while Alabama Lass will be seeking to join them on Saturday when she contests the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) at Ellerslie.
Levante and Legarto have been their best performers on the track, and they have both carried the silks of Ancroft Stud’s Philip and Catherine Brown.
Philip Brown said Bev was a superb horsewoman who had become a close friend, and he was saddened to hear of her passing after a period of illness.
“She was a terrific woman and loved her horses,” he said. “Her and Ken were a complete item together. It is very sad.
“She was a very good equestrian rider in her own right and competed in Australia and New Zealand. I am not into the equestrian scene, but a few people that have been said she was one of the best.
“I have known them (Bev and Ken) since I was a teenager, when I used to go down to the track.
“The first horse we gave them was Levante, and they won four Group One races for us. Then there was Legarto, who won five Group Ones. We have got another two Proisir fillies, Levakia and Levarti, with them.
“The association just grew and we never had a cross word from either of them, we have gotten on really well. We refer to ‘Team Legarto’ as them and the owners.
“The statistics would say they had greater success with fillies, but they had Envoy, who Ken and Bev raced with Rob, their farrier, and he was a lovely horse and ran in the Melbourne Cup. They have had other geldings that they have had success with.
“They are wonderful horse people and have great attention to detail, there was no stone left unturned. They were hands on as well, that is why they only had a small stable.
“Bev, with her illness, wasn’t strong enough in the finish to get about and do a lot of the things that she wanted to do, but she was always giving Ken sound advice to the very last day.”
Unfortunately, Bev couldn’t be trackside for Legarto’s last couple of Group One victories, but Brown said Ken was always straight on the phone after each race to celebrate with his wife.
“Ken used to ring her straight away as they crossed the line because Bev would normally be at home watching it on TV. They were a real team, and a hugely successful one.”
Following Legarto’s success last season, which included winning the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) in her final two starts, she was crowned Horse of the Year at the Matamata Racing Awards on Thursday night, with the trophy quickly passed on to Bev.
“When we won the Horse of the Year at the Matamata awards dinner, the following morning we took the plaque around to Ken and said to give it to Bev because they deserve it. Ken took it to the hospital, and she was pretty chuffed about that.”
Bev’s funeral will take place at Matamata racecourse on Monday, September 14, at 1pm. - Joshua Smith LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Sending our love and deepest condolences to the Kelso family and friends. The entire racing community is thinking of you all during this incredibly sad time. Rest easy, Bev
Jess de Lautour
Jess de Lautour
