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Vale Bev Kelso
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • August 31st, 2026 9:36 am
Bev Kelso, pictured with her husband, Ken (left), and owner Philip Brown, has passed away. Photo: Trish Dunell
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,” Brown said. “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,” Brown said. “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.
