Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
New Zealand trainer Bev Kelso died on Saturday aged 80. Together with husband Ken, they trained a multitude of Group 1 winners from a small stable at Matamata. Their current stable star, Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) will run in next Saturday’s G1 Proisir Plate.
“We were showjumping horses together back in 1977 when Bev got asked to pre-train a couple of horses and eventually she got her licence first and trained a winner before we started our partnership,” Ken Kelso told the NZ Herald.
Reputation for star fillies
They have trained in partnership since 1978 and have garnered a reputation for producing outstanding fillies. The brilliant sprinter Bounding (Lonhro) won the 2014 G1 Auckland Railway Stakes at three, the start after running second in the G1 NZ 1000 Guineas. The half-sister to G1 The Derby winner and ill-fated Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is at stud in America.
But it is Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) who has really put them on the map recently. She won 12 of her 24 starts and over $2.8 million. She won her first five starts in a row including the G1 NZ 1000 Guineas, before adding the G1 Australian Guineas to round out her Classic season. As an older mare, she won the G1 Herbie Dyke Stakes in 2024 and 2026 and finished her career in March 2026 with victory in the G1 New Zealand Stakes.
“Legarto would have been the best of them though, just ahead of Levante,” Kelso said.
The recently-retired multiple Group 1 winner was named the Matamata Horse of the Year at their annual awards on Thursday night.
Bev and Ken Kelso with Phillip Brown | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
“When I told her she had won and showed her the plaque, Bev opened her eyes, smiled and said ‘Legarto’. Bev would have wanted that (Alabama Lass to run) and me to go on training.”
“When I told her she had won and showed her the plaque, Bev opened her eyes, smiled and said ‘Legarto’.” - Ken Kelso
Tributes to a terrific horsewoman
Legarto and four-time Group 1 winner Levante (NZ) (Proisir) were raced by Ancroft Stud’s Philip and Catherine Brown, in partnership with others.
“She was a terrific woman and loved her horses. Her and Ken were a complete item together. It is very sad,” Philip Brown told Loveracing.nz.
“She (Bev Kelso) was a terrific woman and loved her horses. Her and Ken were a complete item together. It is very sad.” - Philip Brown
“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 1 races for us. Then there was Legarto, who won five Group 1s. 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.”
Levante (NZ) | Image courtesy of Race Images
Envoy (NZ) (Personal Escort {USA}) won the 2006 G1 Wellington Cup among his nine victories and was seventh in the 2005 G1 Melbourne Cup behind the wonderful Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}).
“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.”
Some of Ken and Bev Kelso’s other Group 1 winners include dual Group 1 winner Xanadu (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}), dual Group 1 winner Love Dance (NZ) (Kaapstad {NZ}), and G1 NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes victrix Perfect Fit (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}).
A celebration of Bev’s life will be held on September 14 at Matamata racecourse.
