A Life Less Ordinary: The Legacy of ‘Sundee’

By Brad Reid

If the measure of a broodmare is in the heart she puts into her foals and the dreams she brings to life, then Stardon (Sundon–Chiquita Dee), or Sundee as she was known to her connections, wasn’t just any mare - she was a matriarch, a miracle, and the beating heart behind one of the great modern trotting dynasties.

Her recent passing, after a steady decline in condition over the winter, brought the curtain down on a life lived with quiet resilience and thunderous legacy. Her breeder and lifelong custodian, Colin Hair, was there at the beginning and the end.

"She always sort of deteriorated in condition during the winter, but this year she really went downhill and lost quite a bit of weight," Colin recalled. “On the Thursday, she was lying down in the paddock when I went out to feed them and didn’t get up. The vet came, and true to her stubborn self, she stood up and wandered off weak, but still proud. On the Saturday, she didn’t get up at all. We made the call, and she was put down. Sunday, we buried her here at home. She’s where she belongs.”

That final resting place, poignantly, was near the very spot she nearly lost her life as a yearling. As a filly, Stardon suffered a horrific leg injury after rolling under a fence as a yearling.

“She’d ripped the whole of her leg from the knee down. The vet, Mike Brown, said we should shoot her—it was that bad,” Colin said. “But I thought, well, she’s well-bred and maybe she’s worth saving as a broodmare.”

Boxed for six months and tended daily by Colin, the scrappy Sundon filly was bandaged and babied until she could bear weight again. Even then, she got around on three legs. Colin and old-school trainer Bevan Heron eventually strapped her to a jogger in a last-ditch attempt to get her sound.

“We were trying to force her to use the leg. Finally, as a four-year-old, she started coming right. Ugly leg, but she qualified. She debuted at Nelson in winter, 2002.”

A true battler, Stardon only won three modest races as a late blooming seven-year-old before her body said enough. But her breeder never gave up on her. “She ran fifths and sixths off big handicaps, doing the fastest times but just couldn’t win off those marks. So we retired her.”

And from there, the real story began.

Her first few foals didn’t set the world alight — “we gave one away early on, called Malbec who did produce one foal in Valley Star, the winner of seven,” Colin admitted. “Another we leased out. A couple didn’t make the grade.” 

But patience, once again, was rewarded. Because then came Sundees Son.

“He was always a handful,” Colin laughed. “Even getting him in the cart was a mission. But he showed speed. Won his first workout and trial, and his first two starts at two. There were ups and downs. He could gallop, let us down. But he also gave us a glimpse.”

That glimpse of greatness came on Cup Day as a three-year-old.

“He broke at the start, looped them, and just ran away. We thought, ‘We’ve really got something here.’ From there, the reign began.”

As a racehorse, Sundees Son didn’t just dominate — he redefined the modern trotter. With over $1.4 million in earnings, he stands as New Zealand’s richest ever trotter for earnings solely in New Zealand and one of its most decorated. They say good things come in threes; his resume includes a (equal) record three wins in the Dominion Handicap, the country's most prestigious staying test for trotters, along with three ANZAC Cups, three Ordeal Cups, and three consecutive New Zealand Trotter of the Year titles.

He was a 34-time winner from 72 starts, including 12 Group One victories—third all time in NZ behind only Lyell Creek (15) and Take A Moment (13). His 3:56.6 performance in the 2021 Dominion—run virtually solo in front of an empty Addington crowd during COVID restrictions—a Southern Hemisphere record over the distance which would have been good enough to win all but eight editions of the NZ Cup.

Remarkably, he started over the marathon distance of 3200m six times, winning five and placing third in the other—a record of stamina and consistency that may never be matched. Trained by Robert and Jenna Dunn and driven masterfully by John Dunn, Sundees Son wasn’t just a star; he was a generational freak, and the benchmark against which every trotter that follows will now be measured. “His 3:56.6 Dominion win during COVID—no one saw it live, but that time… that puts things in perspective about his generational ability.”

And just when you thought the well might run dry, lightning struck again.

"We'd semi-retired her from breeding. She always struggled a bit through the winters,” said Colin. “But one spring she came through looking good. So we bred her again—to Majestic Son—and got a filly. We were delighted.”

That filly? Sunny’s Sister.

“She went one better than her brother,” Colin beamed. “She won a Derby—something her brother couldn’t do. Two Group Ones. Short career, but a good one.”

Tragically, Sunny’s Sister, too, broke down—ironically with the same injury to the same leg as her brother. But not before Colin, on Craig Edmonds’ suggestion, took an embryo and bred her last spring while on an enforced layoff.

“We went to Tactical Approach. The host mare’s in the paddock now with both Sunny’s Sister and Stardon’s other progeny. It hasn’t been publicised but she has been retired. The next chapter is waiting to be written.”

In 2022, Stardon was named New Zealand Trotting Broodmare of the Year—fitting recognition for a mare who gave everything, including her body and soul, to the breed.

“To breed one absolute superstar like Sundees Son is rare. But to do it again with Sunny’s Sister? That showed it wasn’t just luck. She had strength in her blood.”

What separates Colin from many is not just the results, but the hands-on devotion of a hobby breeder who tends to almost all of his own stock from conception, long into retirement.

“The broodmares are here, the racehorses spell here, and then they retire here.” That bond extended across generations. “Stardon’s brother Uncas, we raced him in Australia and brought him back to retire here. In her paddock, Stardon was in with him, her full sister Lara Lass, and another full brother to the G1 winners, Tamenund, who won one from two before breaking down.”

Even now, Sunny’s Sister—herself a dual Group One winner—is living alongside the host mare carrying her embryo foal. “We’ve now got the host mare in a paddock with the actual natural mother,” Colin said, a quiet but powerful testament to the way he stewards their lives long after the spotlight fades. It’s a practice rooted in respect, care, and a deep understanding that true horsemanship goes far beyond the racetrack.

A queen, a fighter, a foundation mare of rare grit and greatness. Stardon may be gone, but her legacy trots on — etched into the record books, and into the hearts of those who knew her.