Lunchtime was the first foal of his dam Great Occasion, a moderate racehorse who won one minor race from five starts.
[3] During his racing career, Lunchtime was owned by Colonel R D Poole and was trained at Seven Barrows near Lambourn in Berkshire by Peter Walwyn.
[5] Lunchtime ended his season with a run in Britain's most prestigious two-year-old race, the Dewhurst Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse in October.
[5] On his first run as a three-your-old, Lunchtime started odd-on favourite for the Greenham Stakes (a trial race for the 2000 Guineas) over seven furlongs at Newbury Racecourse in April.
On 5 May, Lunchtime contested the 175th running of the 2000 Guineas over Newmarket's Rowley Mile course and finished unplaced behind Mon Fils.
[2] In the 1972 Free Handicap, a ranking of the best two-year-olds to race in Britain, Lunchtime was assigned a weight of 128 pounds, placing him joint-fourth behind the filly Jacinth and the colts Noble Decree and Ksar.