Bonappetit Group 1 Bound

There’s confidence in Bonappetit’s camp that the O’Reilly colt can make his mark in the best age group company this season.

He displayed enough in a three-start campaign as a two-year-old for trainers Michael Moroney and Chad Ormsby to have set him for a Group 1 assignment in November.

“He’s showed top-class ability and while he’s bred to sprint, he’s already showed he wants to get over more ground” Ormsby said.

He’s had one run back from a winter spell at Taupo and finished right behind the place-getters

“He’s had a rain interrupted prep so far, but all going well we’d like to get him down (to Riccarton) for the 2000 Guineas, so obviously he’d have to go through the grades and maybe through the Wellington Guineas on the way.”

Bonappetit was spelled after an unplaced run in the Group 2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes in January, but a better guide to his ability was his debut second to subsequent Group 3 winner Gobi Ranger in the Countdown to Karaka Million 2YO at Ellerslie.

Bred by Waikato Stud, he was sold through their 2012 Karaka Premiere Sale draft to Paul Moroney for $50,000

Raced by long time stable owners Ian McCarrison, Dave Trubshoe, Gary Christini, and Paul Wicks, Bonappetit will have his next start at Ruakaka on 2 October.