Sunnys Sister still not at peak fitness warns Dunn

Who Sunnys Sister (Majestic Son) is at Addington tonight and who she is in a month time could be two vastly different things.

Which is harness racing driver John Dunn’s way of warning you to be careful when the Group 1 winner returns in the opener, the IRT.Your Horse.Our Passion Mobile Trot  tonight (5.21pm).

While the Addington card plays the supporting role to the very serious stuff at Cambridge it does see the return of a high class trotter who could well be taking on some of those in tonight’s TAB Trot in just a month’s time.

Sunny’s Sister is more than just retired champion Sundees Son’s little sister, she is the Oaks and Derby winner of her year who looked set to make an open class impact until a bone chip in her fetlock saw her sidelined last spring.

That was taken out and she returns in a winnable race to start the night at Addington but with Dunn worried she has only had one soft trial.

“She won it but they only went like qualifying speed so she can’t be at peak fitness,” says Dunn.

“We are going into this race hoping she goes well and then improves and we can look at the races up north, possibly culminating in the Rowe Cup.

“But she isn’t in that form yet so she will be driven for speed this week and trying to divebomb them.

“She won’t be taking off and trying to be her big brother.”

They could see Sunnys Sister as vulnerable if one of her better rivals, like Mr Love, could get forward and into a dominant position with the pair clearly standing out under the mobile conditions.

Dunn says the team, officially trained by father Robert and wife Jenna, is getting its mojo back after a slow patch.

“We have little things going wrong and horses out of form and it means I haven’t been able to drive them as I like, which has been very frustrating.

“But I think they are turning the corner now.”

One horse Dunn says punters can jump on tonight with a degree of confidence is Tyron’s Strapping Lad (R3, No.2), who stormed home for second fresh up last Friday.

“He was a horse we liked last season and he has come back well and he is also on trial for a trip north so he would want to go well, which we think he will.”

He also expects improvement from smart filly Queen Tyron (R2, No.3) who was highly rated by the stable last season before sidelined by injury.

“Her fresh up run will have improved her so she will be hard to beat so we have some good chances to start the night.”

The stable also have Frazzled in Race 5 but in a strong enough field to test her while later in the night the highlight will be the $20,000 Stevie and Maree Thank Their Clients Pace, a rare Addington mobile mile.

That could suit Dunn’s hard-running Who’s Delight if he can get across to the markers, sometimes easier said than done from the off mobile mile start point on a bend.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand