Pasternak furthers legacy of Sundees Son breed with maiden breakthrough

The punting purists have a long cold winter ahead with grass track harness racing coming to a close for another term this afternoon at Motukarara Raceway.

The Banks Peninsula Club put forth another stellar surface on a chilly autumn Canterbury day, and the racing as we have come to expect was exciting and offered more than one or two surprises.

After a stellar debut third, the Robert and Jenna Dunn trained Pasternak (Volstead) winning the first race of April Fool’s Day was far from the surprise category, kicking favourite punters off on the right note with a solid maiden breakthrough at just his second attempt.

The three-year-old gelding was bred and raced by Colin and Nancy Hair who have made winning trotting races a habit over the last five or six years, and the win of Pasternak added further to the legacy of a breed that was put on the map by their generational talent, Sundees Son.

Pasternak is the fourth foal from Lara Lass (Sundon), a full sister to Stardon who in turn is the dam of incomparable Sundees Son and his dual G1 winning full sister, Sunny’s Sister. The blood is there and while it has taken a while to come through in more ways than one, the tap has been turned on and there isn’t a plumber in the world who could turn it off at present.

Lara Lass greeted the starter 17 times as a race mare but the best she could muster was a second and a third. Those who followed the career of Sundees Son from day dot will remember a horse with a serious motor, however matching that speed with where to put his feet was a frustrating learning curve for those associated with him. Sunny’s Sister hasn’t been immune to those issues either.

Colin Hair recalls Pasternak’s dam having some of that family trait and a lot more ability than her record on paper would suggest.

“Out of all the Sundon’s which I bred out of Chiquita Dee, Lara Lass was the fastest of them all,” said Hair.

“She only had two problems. The first was she didn’t like going around corners, and two, she had no brakes. I reckon if you had a race over 800m in a straight line, she would have been near unbeatable,” he laughed.

“At the end of the day I got a bit sick of it, and so did Bevan too most likely. You do wonder now with the modern training techniques we have today whether she could have been sorted out and reached her potential, but it is what it is now.”

Pasternak hails from the first crop of Australia’s leading first season trotting sire, Volstead, a son of Cantab Hall who took the siring world by storm last season not only across the ditch, but here in New Zealand with G1 winners like Empire City and in North America also where he dominated Ohio Sires Stakes juvenile racing.

He was able to achieve his stellar success on the back of just 97 foals globally, and just 25 of them here in New Zealand after standing residence at Yabby Dam Farms in Victoria for two seasons.

Volstead was a Group One winner in Sweden and won 10 feature races in Scandinavia in a career that netted more than three quarters of a million dollars.

“I ended up breeding two that year and partly it was the fact he was available as a fresh option, and when I studied the two pedigrees, it looked like a great breeding on paper for the mares.

“The other one is a half to Woodstone, and he is a big fellow who has been to the trials a couple of times but just knuckles over a wee bit and is just a strength thing. John said time will be his friend and he is up in the hills of the back country spelling to develop into his frame. We will bring him back in over the winter and give him another prep then.

“They liked this one early and did have quite a bit of time for him. Ross (Houghton) who broke him in thought he was quite talented.

“He gets down on his bumps at the back, and it doesnt seem to be so bad on the grass which is why we took this route for him early in his career. We elevated his shoes at the back to try and keep him elevated. The thought really was to give him in effect a few races to see how good he is. I think John does quite like him and what we do with him now, we were just tossing up whether we take him up to Auckland for the Sires Stakes,” said Hair.

PASTERNAK REPLAY

For those wondering about the name, the former HRNZ Board Member and current NZSBA Chair showed his ‘art noir’ knowledge and possibly his age when offering advice to this young(ish) scribe on how it all came about.

“Lara Lass is Lara from Doctor Zhivago, and a number of years ago when that movie came out (1965), I fell in love with Lara who was played by Julie Christie in the movie. It’s another generation from you Brad, but those in our generation know it,” he laughed.

“Most of the foals have been named on that theme, and Boris Pasternak is the name of the author of the novel which preceded the movie. So today’s winner is called Boris around the stables and obviously races under the name Pasternak,” he said.

Hair was very complimentary of the drive from the Diamond Racing Stables young junior driver, Korbyn Newman, who has patenred with Pasternak for his first two starts.

“He’s a good kid young Korbyn and he does quite a bit with Pasternak so it was nice to reward him with the drive. His one concern was he never had a drive of Sundees Son at all, and he wont get to drive Sunny’s Sister now either after driving a couple on her early on,” he laughed.

The Motukarara success for the Hair’s came hard on the back of Easter Saturday’s Fred Shaw Memorial where Sunny’s Sister was looking to replicate the deeds of her full brother and add her name to the 56 year legacy of the G1 feature.

She secured a dream trip on the back of Muscle Mountain but jumped out of her gait when the four-year-old mare appeared to have plenty to offer in the straight.

“After the race, unlike John, he was beside himself and convinced that she would have run second. She was just jogging and we were sort of just happy to run in the first five or six in that field. She didn’t look out of place, and it’s just scary how similar she is in terms of her brother and her action.

“There was some interest in her early for the TAB Trot Slot, but I wasn’t really interested in entering. I know she would have drawn one or two, but she has her whole career ahead and we think next year will be when we start to see the best of her,” he said.

For complete Motukarara results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink