Sundees Son in rarified air after third consecutive Dominion

Harness racing hero Sundees Son (Majestic Son) has joined Lyell Creek and Take A Moment on the pantheon of New Zealand Trotting greats by winning his third consecutive Dominion Trot at Addington Raceway this afternoon (Nov. 11)

The 3200m distance of the $300,000 G1 Dominion is without a doubt the ultimate staying test for trotters in this part of the world. With 105 years of history, the time honoured feature is the one any trotting breeder and owner aspires to be a part of and only the best add their name to the trophy.

Even with the scratching of Bolt For Brilliance, many pundits were picking this to be a humdinger of a contest and we weren’t disappointed.

It was shades of Bonecrusher and Waverley Star as the match race we all expected between Sundees Son and Muscle Mountain played out before the large Show Day crowd, in what was without a doubt the best feature race spectacle of the week.

Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) was driven an absolute pearler by his young junior driver Ben Hope, but ultimately it took a champion horse and a champion performance to supersede it, and Sundees Son and John Dunn ticked both of those boxes in a big way.

“Oh, what a horse,” said John Dunn soon after the race to Nigel Armstrong of Harness Racing Unhinged.

“It was a great effort to dig deep that last furlong, he was headed, but to come back like that I’m speechless really.

“It’s a great result and a great team effort a lot of work goes into the horse to get him right for today and it’s wonderful to get the rewards,” he said.

On the back of his dominant performance in the South Bay Trotters Cup, the Sundees Son camp were headed to the Dominion with confidence levels at an all-time high.

Adding to that was the fact that Sundees Son has only been beaten once over two miles in his career, and had last year trotted faster than Copy That won the New Zealand Cup for pacers.

The only question mark was whether he would trot the Addington bends having succumb at his previous two starts.

Away safely from barrier seven, Sundees Son was being held together early by John Dunn allowing Ben Hope and Muscle Mountain an opportunity to seize the early tactical advantage which the pair took with both hands.

Hope sent his charge on a searing run and entering the home straight for the first time, found himself in front with two laps of the course remaining.

So much emphasis in the Open Class trotting ranks over the last 24 months has been placed on driving tactics, with the best of the squaregaiters now capable of rattling off 55 second last halves making it incredibly hard for anything to make ground from the back.

Dunn knew this all too well having used the same tactics to break opposition hearts at every opportunity. Dunn was possibly guilty of letting Tony Herlihy dictate for too long in the Rowe Cup six months ago, and with this likely in mind, worked forward outside the wheel of Muscle Mountain to have a look for the lead.

Hope was cunning in opting to test the gait of Sundees Son around the bend that had been causing him and his connections some grief of late, but ultimately took a sit behind the champ as they worked down the back straight a second time.

Sensing that Sundees Son had done a stack of work to find the lead, Mark Purdon and Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son) came searching for a look and again the two-time defending champ was forced to work, with observers fearing he was a sitting duck for the up-and-coming superstar on his back.

Down the back straight a final time, Sundees Son soon broke the heart of Oscar Bonavena and wiped out the chances of a luckless Majestic Lavros (Majestic Son) in the process. It left a group of seven going around the showground bend for the final time, and soon it was down to four with Sundees Son being challenged by Muscle Mountain up the passing lane, and Five Wise Men (Muscle Hill) and stablemate Aardiebythehill (Muscle Hill) on his outside.

Inside the last furlong, Muscle Mountain and Hope made a bold claim, heading the champ 100m from the post, only to see Sundees Son under the urging of his pilot fight back like only he could and claim his third Dominion trot to the delight of the Addington crowd.

SUNDEES SON REPLAY

“It was a standing applause, and you don’t see that too often do you,” said his co trainer Robert Dunn.

“I knew there would be some petrol left but I thought Hopey’s horse is just such a brilliant follower of pace, he was going to be hard to hold out. I watched him all the way and he was really relaxed on the helmet of Johnny and traveling great, and I thought well if we go down it’s because Ben has driven a superb race.

“Even at the 50m I thought he was possibly going to get us, but just to fight back it was amazing,” he said.

Every champion needs a worthy adversary to push them beyond the realms of what even they believe themselves capable of.

Sundees Son found that again today in Muscle Mountain, and the Greg & Nina Hope trained five-year-old lost no admirers in going down by only a head in the finish.

“We just got beaten by a champion, he’s just an out and out stayer and amazing little horse,” said Greg Hope of Sundees Son.

“We always thought he might be a bit vulnerable over the two miles, but in saying that we gave it our best shot and I couldn’t be prouder of him. It was a great drive by Ben, and he knew he had to have a go. We think he’s a super horse and we appreciate Sundees Son is a super horse, so we had to make him do a wee bit of work, but it’s amazing, he hit the front and got run down so you can’t do much more than that,” he said.

Co trainer Nina Hope echoed those sentiments and was a proud mum post-race.

“We are so proud of Ben and the horse, it was like winning it, we are so wrapped. The two-mile trip isn’t ideal for him so to run Sunny so close today we are just super super proud of him,” she said.

For young Ben Hope who many have watched grow up before their eyes on TV screens and have been quick to judge any error, his efforts in almost nabbing the ultimate prize will have had many of his knockers tipping their hat.

“It worked out good, full credit to the horse really he’s a super horse and I’m really proud of him,” said Ben.

“He was just beaten by an absolute champion. Full credit to Sundees Son, the Dunn team, Colin and Nancy. But I am still proud of my boy. Hopefully this time next year we can have another go in it. There is a Group One in December over the 1980m which is more of his pet distance. There is plenty to look forward too,” he said.

Craig Edmonds who plays such a pivotal role in the Robert and Jenna Dunn operation had the added satisfaction of not only seeing Sundees Son back to his best, but also filling a minor placing with his own quality four-year-old, Five Wise Men (Muscle Hill).

“He went really well; I was yelling for both of them down the straight which was a bit hard but next year he will have his turn. It was great to see Sunny do it again; he’s had a couple of little setbacks so to come back like that was great,” he said.

Five Wise Men was 2 and a quarter lengths away in third, with Aardiebythehill going the race of his young career to finish into fourth suggesting he will be a major player in the Open Class ranks for some time yet.

The race time of 3:58.4 was the second fastest in the 105-year history of the Dominion Trot and was faster than 107 of the 119 New Zealand Cups for pacers over the same distance.

For Colin and Nancy Hair, a three-peat in the biggest trotting race of all on their home track with a horse they bred and raised will have been incredibly satisfying.

His season is far from finished however and it looks like a couple of southern sojourns could be on the cards with the rising eight-year-old most likely sticking around the South Island.

“We would like to target Auckland because they are $50,000 races, but we think now he has to have the beach as his main friend, and he has got to be working there as often as possible to see the best of him going forward,” said Robert Dunn.

“We will probably target Omakau and Invercargill because he can go there and come back home,” he said.

For complete Show Day results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink