Sundees Son still set for Australia after setback

The best trotters in New Zealand’s North Island are getting an early Christmas present, but it is one that won’t last long into the new year.

And it won’t be a gift extended to our Victorian friends.

In this case it is John Dunn, driver of champion trotter Sundees Son, who is playing Santa Claus by announcing the superstar won’t be heading to Auckland in time for the $30,000 Greenlane Cup at Alexandra Park on New Year’s Eve.

Sundees Son, a record-smashing winner of the Dominion at Addington at his last start, was to have resumed in the Greenlane Cup, but Dunn says his return has been delayed a week. And Auckland’s loss is Cambridge’s gain.

“He had a very slight bug at the back end of last week and we treated it with antibiotics, but we didn’t want to do that then chuck him straight on a transporter to Auckland,” explains Dunn, part of family stables now branded as Diamond Racing.

“So he is definitely still coming north, but he won’t be on the next transporter until December 28 and that is too close to the race.

“So we will let him miss the Greenlane Cup and then he will race at Cambridge on January 7 and January 13.”

Sundees Son missing the Greenlane Cup may dull some of the glamour of the already diluted New Year’s Eve meeting, but the main trot will still boast local star Bolt For Brilliance and evergreen Temporale, who made it career win 25 overcoming a 20m handicap at Alexandra Park last Friday night.

And the twilight meeting will also be boosted by pacers Krug, Steal The Show, B D Joe and Hot And Treacherous contesting the Franklin Cup and an impressive bunch of juvenile pacing fillies in their $150,000 final.

Dunn says while Sundees Son won’t now race at Alexandra Park until maybe April, he will use the two Cambridge races early in the new year as key trials for his first Australian campaign centred around the $300,000 Great Southern Star at Melton on February 4.

That is actually two sprint races – made up of two heats to find finalists for the 1720m final – all run inside three hours, so how Sundees Son handles the 1700m sprint of his Cambridge assignment on January 7 and the 2200m mobile six days later should be crucial pointers to his chances of adapting to the short-course racing in Victoria.

“We are definitely still aiming at Australia and the small setback he has had won’t affect him getting there at all,” says Dunn.

“We will just be swapping one lead-up race on December 31 for a different one a week later.”

By Michael Guerin