The step up in distance, coupled with drawing barrier two, should see Levante get her chance to settle in the first half of the field should jockey Ryan Elliot want her there and that is a luxury she has rarely been afforded.
Levante used to be very slow out and disconnect from the back of the field, making for some spectacular but expensive performances.
She has improved her barrier manners greatly and was even able to settle in the one-one in a recent trial. But just as importantly moving to 1600m means getting away from real speedsters such as Babylon Berlin who put so much early speed into the 1200-1400m races that even on her best behaviour Levante would often find herself back in the field.
“I’d like to think that she can settle handier at the 1600m but I am not worrying too much about that,” says Kelso. “She is well and ready for the distance so my main concern is the weather.
“They could get some rain down there and if that makes the track a [rating] five or six that would actually suit us. But if it gets wetter than that that could play against us.”
Like many horses with a couple of seasons at the elite level, Levante doesn’t enjoy the firm going these days but if the rain hits Otaki anything and the track becomes approaching heavy, which looks unlikely, it would not aid favourite backers.
One thing Levante hasn’t lacked is a quality trackwork partner as she galloped with Group 1-winning stablemate Legarto on Tuesday morning.
“I was happy with how they worked together and Legarto will have an exhibition gallop between races here [Matamata] on Saturday.” Legarto travels to Melbourne next Tuesday to take on the boys in the Australian Guineas at Flemington on March 4.
Kelso says Legarto’s connections have made no decisions about her plans after the Guineas so are not even thinking about heading to Sydney and races such as the ATC Oaks.
A quality meeting at Matamata will see the strength of the jockey’s ranks split this weekend, with premiership leaders Michael McNab and Craig Grylls at Otaki but Opie Bosson and Craig Zackey at Matamata.
Warren Kennedy misses this weekend through a delayed suspension.