Snitzel colt Burgunder has announced himself as a horse of the future with a determined victory in the Clarendon Stakes at Hawkesbury.
While the 1400m race does not carry black-type status, it has historically proven to be a strong form reference for the later-maturing juveniles with the likes of 2013 winner Zoustar going on to Group 1 success.
Saturday’s renewal appears no different, with Burgunder ($6.50) fighting back to defeat $1.9 million yearling purchase Basquiat ($3.20 fav) by a neck, with staying type Owen County ($5) warming up late to grab third, another 1-3/4 lengths away.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott has a healthy opinion of Burgunder and will now weigh up whether to take him to Brisbane to target a winter carnival feature or put him in the paddock with a view to the spring.
“He is still a preparation away,” Bott said.
“I’ll have a good think after today about what we do, whether we push on to Queensland, but it will be really tempting to save him for the spring because he’s got the makings of a lovely colt.
“He’s still a baby in comparison to a few of these but he is a very athletic type with a lot of upside to him.”
Burgunder finished fourth over 1100 metres on debut, an effort Bott felt was full of merit given he believed the colt would eventually be at his best over a mile or further.
He made natural improvement from that run and winning jockey Josh Parr said the youngster showed grit to score on Saturday after Basquait appeared to head him in the straight.
“The second horse, the favourite, came to me full of steam and actually passed me but to this guy’s credit, he put his head out and got the job done,” Parr said.