Shades of the Dominion in Sundees Son's latest win

By Michael Guerin

Sundees Son’s rivals will be thrilled to hear they may get a reprieve from him in the north’s next big trotting race because they definitely didn’t get one on Friday night.

Our champion trotter turned the $100,000 Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot into a lung bursting display of power trotting not seen since, well, he did the same thing in the Dominion at Addington in November.

The little horse who can was allowed to find his hooves early by driver John Dunn as first Temporale and then Bolt For Brilliance blasted off the gate and then Dunn launched, giving Tony Herlihy on Bolt For Brilliance no choice but to concede.

But Dunn was in no mood for a sit-sprint Group 1 and like he did at Addington that day he let Sundees Son run almost as fast as he can for as long as he can, swishing him up again at the 600m mark when Muscle Mountain looked like he might dash up to him.

It was a thing of beauty as Sundees Son never faltered and held the two younger stars at bay and obliterated the national 2700m mobile records by over three seconds, trotting 3:16.3, a 1:56.9 mile rate.

It was eerily similar to the Dominion, with Dunn deciding he has the best trotter and if he runs at his maximum then how are they going to beat him?

The answer is, for now, over anything 2200m, usually they just can’t.

“I wanted to make it a staying test and he loves it like that. He has such a big heart and such good lungs,” says Dunn.

Dunn realises the younger trotters can still beat Sundees Son by getting in front of him in short course races and he says the next stop on the great northern trotting circuit of autumn, the $50,000 mile programmed for Cambridge on May 12 may not suit quite as well.

“We were going to go there but we might miss it now,” says Dunn.

“I think we will just concentrate on the two races left here, one being the Rowe Cup.”

The only dark cloud about Sundees Son not being at Cambridge is with only five starters in the National Trot and the champ set to miss it, will the Mile at Cambridge even get off the ground?

Let us hope it does because even if he doesn’t turn up Muscle Mountain versus Bolt For Brilliance is fun any day of the week.

It just wasn’t much fun for them chasing Sundees Son on Friday night.

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