Sundees Son sensational again

They came to see the harness racing champ, and he delivered.

Southlanders gave champion trotter Sundees Son a rousing reception when he returned to the Ascot Park birdcage after winning the Pryde’s Easifeed Southern Light Handicap Trot.

The appreciation shown reminded me of galloper Little Brown Jug’s return to the birdcage after winning the 1979 Southland Guineas.

Sundees Son warming up for John Dunn

The winning time of 3-24.8 was sensational and befitting of a pacer with the last 800 metres peeled off in 55.2 seconds and 400 metres in 27.2.

“He’s got the speed of a pacer,” said driver John Dunn.

Dunn took the seven-year-old halfway through the 2700 metre feature and from there he was never going to get beaten.

Sundees Son leads with a lap to run from One Apollo

At the finish

The time was a new track and Southland record for four year old and older geldings, beating the 3-25.6 recorded by Ultimate Stride in 2021. The all-comers record of 3-24.0 is held by Pres The Belle.

“You wouldn’t say he is the best gaited trotter to sit behind. He fires the off front foot out, so he isn’t the best gaited trotter to sit behind but when he gets that rhythm and speed, he’s a lot better. He must have a massive ticker.”

Back to the birdcage

On the parade

Today was Sundees Son’s twenty seventh and he’s just $8,083 off becoming a millionaire. He’s won eight Group One races, one Group Two and five Group Three features and has won over most distances. He’s trained by Robert and Jenna Dunn.

“He’s a great staying type. In the Dominion this year he showed that. If you can get going at the 800 like he did today he can carry on that speed,” John said.

Southland was lucky to see the star trotter as the plan was to take him to Australia but that was aborted.

“Yep, it was a bit disappointing. He was a trotter in form, and he deserved to go over there. We all sat down and had a round table and decided it wasn’t worth the risk.”

Sundees Son holds six New Zealand records ranging from 2-39.1 for 2200 metre mobile to 3-56.6 for 3200 metres.

Sundees Son is owned by Colin and Nancy Hair who were on-course today to see the Majestic Son gelding win. It was the second time Dunn has driven the winner of the Southern Lights. He drove Harriet Of Mot, co-trained by his father in law Craig Edmonds to win in 2016.

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by Bruce Stewart