By Kelsey Riley
It is certainly not a rarity to see the New Zealanders come across the Tasman and land Australia's longer-distance Classics, and Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi {GB}) followed up on the victory of her Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman stablemate Jon Snow (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB})'s win in last weekend's G1 Australian Derby when landing the G1 Australian Oaks on Saturday.
Bonneval made just one start at two, breaking her maiden going 1300 metres at Hastings last April before being put away for the winter. She won not seen again until December when unlucky in a pair of outings, but showed promise on return on Jan. 28 when finishing third in the G3 Desert Gold S. at Trentham. Bonneval reeled off three straight victories as the distance was increased thereafter, taking out the G2 Sir Tristram S. stretched out to 2000 metres on Feb. 11 before adding the 2100-metre G3 Lowland S. and the G1 New Zealand Oaks when last seen on Mar. 18.
Sitting third last as the field began to spread out after the opening furlongs, Bonneval got as far as 20 lengths off the lead as last year's G1 Victorian Oaks winner Lasqueti Spirit (Aus) (Beneteau {Aus}) took up the lead and increased the tempo. Shook up by Hugh Bowman rounding the bend and swinging five-wide, Bonneval had about five lengths to make up on Lasqueti Spirit and Perfect Rhyme (Aus) (Poet's Voice {GB}), but she made that look easy, charging down the middle of the track to win with the greatest of ease while nothing else emerged from behind.
“I hope she might be a weight for age horse and we will have to have a look at something for her in the spring maybe, it's a long way away,” Baker told Racenet.com.au. “I was a bit worried about the ground but the horse is in terrific order, there are two tracks at Cambridge so the way of going wasn't an issue.”
Bowman added, “It was a funny race, I had to make a few decisions today. I expected to be first four with Lasqueti Spirit out in front. When it was slow away I thought, 'what do I do here? Do I press on or do I just be patient? That's exactly what I did and this filly didn't let me down. I was humming on the turn, but I did have a good 150 metres to make up and I don't care what level you are at, that's hard to do, and she had it made up by the 100-metre mark so I could enjoy the ride with everyone else for the last few strides.”
Pedigree Notes…
Bonneval provided back-to-back winners of this race for her sire Makfi, who was also responsible for Sofia Rosa (NZ) last year. Makfi formerly shuttled shuttled to Westbury Stud in New Zealand. Out of the winning Zabeel (NZ) mare Imposingly (Aus), Bonneval has shot to the head of her dam's four stakes-winning fillies with a Group 1 score. She is a full-sister to the Group 3 winner Imposing Lass (NZ), and a half to fellow Group 3 winners Full Of Spirit (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}) and Lady Cumquat (Aus) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}). Appearing under the fourth dam is Broodmare of the Year Magnificent Style (Silver Hawk). Imposingly has a 2-year-old colt by Redwood (GB), a yearling colt by Camelot (Ire) and a filly foal by Adelaide (Ire).
Saturday, Royal Randwick, Australia
AUSTRALIAN OAKS-G1, A$1,114,500 (US$835,880/£675,538/€789,267), ATC, 4-08, 3yo, f, Open Set, 2400mT, 2:36.27, sf.
1–BONNEVAL (NZ) , 56.0, f, 3, by Makfi (GB)
1st Dam: Imposingly, by Zabeel (NZ)
2nd Dam: Quiz Queen (NZ), by Defensive Play (USA)
3rd Dam: L'Quiz (USA), by L'Enjoleur (CAN)
(NZ$150,000 Ylg 2015 NZB National Yearling Sale). O-A R
Lawrence, J A Rattray & T W Jarvis; B-City Bloodstock Ltd,
Auckland, NZ; T-M Baker & A Forsman; J-J Bowman;
A$699,500. Lifetime Record: G1SW-NZ, 8-5-0-1, A$978,969.
*1/2 to Full of Spirit (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}), G1SP-NZ, GSW-
Aus, $268,585; Lady Cumquat (Aus) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}),
GSW-NZ, MGSP-Aus, $144,238; and a full to Imposing Lass
(NZ), GSW-Aus, $217,970. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Perfect Rhyme, 56.0, f, 3, Poet's Voice (GB)–Dagmar, by
Danehill (USA). (A$40,000 Ylg 2015 WI Classic Yearling Sale –
Summer). O-P J Gibb, Ms P J Bovard, Mrs G D Leemon, D R T
Leemon, G M Brogan, Miss H Brogan, B Getty, N A Girardin, J L
Houlford, Mrs B J Houlford, Mrs K J Hunt & Mrs L J Darias;
B-Mr J Buchanan QLD; T-R T Leemon; J-T Angland; A$190,000.
3–Lasqueti Spirit, 56.0, f, 3, Beneteau–Supriym Story, by
General Nediym. (A$150,000 Ylg 2015 MM Gold Coast Yearling
Sale). O-Mystery Downs (Mgr: F W Cook), Mrs C M Cook, A R
Davison, Ms C E Curtis, R Croad, B Djura & M J Fenech; B-S J E
Family Trust QLD; T-L W Curtis; J-J Ford; A$100,000.
Margins: 4.5 len, 4.9 len, 11.7 len. Odds: 3.20, 17.00, 10.00.
Also Ran: Harlow Gold (NZ) , Wheal Leisure, Nurse Kitchen (NZ) , Waking Moment, Devise (NZ) , High Impulse, Cambage, Lamma Hilton, Lubiton, La Bella Diosa (NZ) .
Click for the Racing Post chart, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. NSW Video.
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