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The day junior driver Ben Hope has been dreaming of since he was a child arrived on Friday when Muscle Mountain chased down his star rival Sundees Son to win the Group One New Zealand Trotting Championship.



Hope showed the poise of a driver well beyond his 21 years when expertly guiding the rising star of New Zealand trotting to victory in the 2600m Addington feature.

And in doing so, Hope joined a select group of New Zealand drivers to have tasted top-level success as a junior driver.

While his career has spanned just four seasons and is certainly in it’s early stages, Hope’s dreams of Group One glory can be tracked much further back.
“I have dreamed about this since even before primary school.”

“I can remember walking around with my whip and going to school pretending I was driving.”

“There has never been anything else I would rather do, it has always been harness racing.”

“To win races is really cool, but to get a Group One is phenomenal.”

Hope’s first Group One win was made sweeter by Muscle Mountain chasing down the star of New Zealand trotting in Sundees Son.

After an epic home-straight battle, Hope and his four-year-old drew clear of the Dominion winners and John Dunn to score.

Hope admitted the feeling when he crossed the line was like no other.

“It was unbelievable, firstly to beat a horse of Sundees Son’s calibre was phenomenal enough.”
“But to win a Group One with Muscle Mountain was unbelievable.”

Hope had Muscle Mountain in front early when the four-year-old showed a surprising amount of gate speed.
After being crossed early, Tony Herlihy and Bolt For Brilliance took the front before handing it to Dunn and Sundees Son.

That left Hope with a key decision to make – when to angle off the pegs to avoid being caught three back on the markers.

The junior driver timed his move to perfection, waiting as long as he could until moving out near the 800m.
“I knew I was following two good horses but at the same time I knew I didn’t want to be too far off Sundees Son.”

“I made the decision to pull out and to the horse’s credit he stuck on well.”

Hope’s breakout win also made more special as it came for his parents, trainers Greg and Nina Hope.

The junior driver paid credit to them and owner Ian Dobson for having the faith in him to be partnered with such a brilliant trotter.

“Mum and Dad have obviously been my biggest supporters.”
“They have put me on horses that not many young people get to drive.”

“I am very thankful to them and I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am.”

“And I have to give a lot of thanks to Ian Dobson as well, I am pretty lucky to be able to drive a horse like this.”

Sundees Son was game in defeat, fighting hard to finish three-quarters of a length from Muscle Mountain.
Bolt For Brilliance held third after looking under plenty of pressure on the home turn.

The trio are unlikely to clash again this season.
Muscle Mountain’s next big goal is the Harness Jewels.
The Hope camp have said a Rowe Cup campaign is unlikely for their stable star.


Credit: HRNZ

Just like harness racing fans across Australasia, the team behind Sundees Son were left utterly speechless when the star trotter produced one of the greatest trotting performances in New Zealand’s history to win the Group One Dominion at Addington on Show Day.

The Robert and Jenna Dunn trained six-year-old didn’t just break his own national and race record set in his brilliant win in the 3200m feature last year, he absolutely smashed it, setting a new mark few thought was possible.

Perfectly handled by driver John Dunn, Sundees Son crossed the line in the jaw-dropping time of 3.56.6 – a massive 4.9sec faster than his 4.00.5 win in the race last year.

And even more incredibly, his time was 2.2sec faster than what Copy That’s clocked when winning the New Zealand Cup over the same trip on Tuesday.



Emotions flowed from owner-breeders Colin and Nancy Hair, as well as from the training team behind the star squaregaiter including Robert and Jenna Dunn and her father Craig Edmonds.

Understandably, it was a combination of jubilation from witnessing a stunning victory and a sense of disbelief after their trotting star had produced one of the most remarkable performances in 110 editions of the Dominion.
“It was unbelievable,” Jenna Dunn said.

“Sunny is a special horse and with him anything is possible, but it is still unbelievable that he won like that.”

As unique as his stunning victory was, so is the way the team behind Sundees Son come together to make him a success.

The Hairs have pulled off a breeding miracle with their Sundon mare Stardon, while Jenna and her father Craig Edmonds and John Dunn and his father Robert all contribute to the fine-tuning of a superstar trotter and his career.

“I am just so lucky to be a part of it, Dad does a lot of work with the horse and Johnny does too, it is a real team effort.”

Colin and Nancy Hair were understandably speechless after watching their trotting star rewrite history.
It could take several days for the gravity of what they witnessed on Friday to sink in.
“I still don’t believe what just happened,” Colin Hair said.

“It is just incredible, I think it will take some time to sink in.”

Sundees Son’s performance and winning time surely rates him in the top tier of trotters around the world.
With little to prove in New Zealand, taking on those global superstars seems an inevitable option.

“With Covid we have never really considered going anywhere, the Interdominions were never an option,” Hair said.

“I have always said that unless Craig can go with him and John can drive him and he can race in Robert’s colours he won’t be going anywhere.”

“But now he has won a lot of the big races here twice, we will have to consider going somewhere.”

The Dunn team produced another brilliant training performance in the Dominion with Mataderos just a length behind his stablemate in second.

The trotter also smashed the 3200m national record as he continued his rise from battling Aussie bush trotter to Group One star in just his 13th start in New Zealand.
The Dunn stable also produced Chief Of Staff for the race of his lifetime, finishing fourth behind third placegetter, Bolt For Brilliance.


Credit: Johnny Turner

Sundees Son shone brightly at Addington on Friday, leaving his rivals chasing his shadow when he won the fastest ever running of the Dominion with perfect poise.

The Robert Dunn trained trotter produced one of the most polished performances of his career to show New Zealand Cup week fans exactly how good he is when bolting away with the 3200m feature by nearly four lengths.

The scare Sundees Son put into his legion of backers and that camp that prepares when galloping in his last start at Kaikoura him looked a distant memory when the six-year-old trotted off the mark to take up a handy early position.

From there, driver John Dunn’s intentions looked clear – to keep his horse relaxed and out of trouble – and the reinsman was rewarded with New Zealand Trotting’s ultimate trophy.

“After Kaikoura Johnny and I had a talk and we decided we had to take bad luck out of the equation,” Robert Dun said.

“Pres The Belle was keen and had to come off the fence, but it wasn’t long until Johnny decided to get around to sit parked.”



“He is just such a beautifully relaxed horse outside the leader, he goes to sleep.”

Sundees Son’s Dominion win was made possible by a family effort led by the Dunn’s father and son combination.
John Dunn’s father-in-law Craig Edmonds also played a huge role in the horse’s record-breaking victory with his dedication.

“Craig does all the shoeing with him and he takes him down to the beach all the time,” Dunn said.

“We can show up at 5.30 in the morning and Craig is already gone with him, taking him down for a paddle in the water on his jog days.”

“He loves the horse and Johnny obviously has a wonderful combination with him, too.”

Sundees Son will now head to Auckland where he is set to take part in one of the biggest clashes in open class trotting in recent history.

Trotting purists are set to be treated to a clash of two trotters with raw ability like few others in the past decade when Sundees Son will almost certainly take on speed machine Bolt For Brilliance in the Lyell Creek Stakes and National Trot at Alexandra Park.

“He will go to Auckland next, he handles the Auckland way of going as good as he does going the Addington way,” Dunn said.

Sundees Son’s Dominion victory topped an outstanding past 12 months for Robert Dunn and his team.
The trainer notched both his 1500th career win in New Zealand and his first national premiership in the past year.

During that time, Sundees Son has provided a few headaches for the Dunn camp and his breeder-owners, Colin and Nancy Hair.

The squaregaiter went 12 months without trotting throughout an entire race and his tilt at last year’s Dominion had to be abandoned.

“He tells us when he is not right and though he made a break at Kaikoura, it was because he had to take a slight bit of evasive action,” Dunn said.

“And it doesn’t take much with him.”

“The key to him is his soundness and when he is sound he is such a pleasure to have around the place.”

Clearly, nothing was bothering Sundees Son on Friday as he trotted to victory in 4-00.5, taking 0.2sec off Monbet’s national 3200m record, set in his 2016 Dominion win.

Sundees Son’s performance meant runner-up Majestic Man had to settle for yet another big race placing.
Despite that trainer Phil Williamson was proud of his six-year-old
“He gave it all he could, the winner is just a great, great horse.”

“I am proud of him.”

“He would have to be the best one I have had that hasn’t won a group 1.”

Aussie raider Tough Monarch turned around two disappointing efforts in New Zealand when running into third, half a length behind Majestic Man.

Credit : Johnny Turner, Harnesslink, 13 Nov 2020



Credit: Johnny Turner

Tough staying trotter Speeding Spur went back to back in the Gr1 $90,000 NZ Trotting Championships tonight by leading all the way and proving too strong at the finish for harness racing driver Josh Dickie.



In last years edition of the race Speeding Spur led and stuck his nose out at the right time to win narrowly and this year was a repeat of that with the Pegasus Spur horse lasting by a neck from a game Sundees Son who broke late when challlenging him close to the line.

An emotional Josh Dickie gave credit to the horses toughness after the race,

"This horses courage is unbelievable really," he said.

"We have had a bit of an up and down campaign since winning the Free For All here during Cup Week.

"I was quite happy to just pull back last week and let him run home, but tonight we wanted to lead up and let him dictate like he likes to do.

"Dad and I had confidence in him and he has backed that up tonight," he said

Speeding Spur trotted the 2600m mobile in a slick 3-17.9 in the wet conditions with a last 800m in 58 seconds with a closing 400m in 29.6 seconds.

Credit: Harnesslink Media, 5 Apr 2019

SUNDEES SON:4 B g Majestic Son - Stardon (by Sundon)

OWNERS: Colin and Nancy Hair

BREEDER: Colin Hair

TIME: 2:25.3 Mile Rate: 1-58.0 Last 800m: 57.5 Last 400m: 28.7



What was meant to be one of the most mouth-watering clashes of day turned into a demolition of some very good four-year-olds, thanks to the most un-assuming low flying missile from Woodend Beach.

You could be forgiven for thinking Sundees Son wears hopples, such is the blistering speed at which he generally does things, although for a while back there he did wear half hopples.

The problem has never been his motor, as much as it has been about his temperament.

The son of Majestic Son has found his groove and is clearly a trotter in the zone, having just won three Group One trotting races in a row.

The path to potential Trotter of the Year fairy-tale hasn’t been without it’s bumps, but I’m not sure Colin & Nancy Hair would have it any other way when they look back and reflect on the journey.

It was in 1996 that Hair bought the broodmare Chiquita Dee at the Christchurch Mixed Sale for $1600 and embarked on this course.

“I’d tried a number of pacers for a start and I would have to say they were totally unsuccessful,” said Hair.

“Then when I thought I’d have a go at the trotters, one of my first attempts was winding up as the under bidder on Solar Fire.

“Around the same time I looked at buying Shaq Attaq as a yearling, but the vet put me off.

“He wound up with Paul Nairn and proved to be a good horse too.

“While I might have been unlucky back then, it encouraged me that I was on the right track, so I then decided to take the long and winding road of breeding them.

”Placed in a brief career, Chiquita Dee was by Pernod Eden from a half-sister to the fine trotting mare Thriller Dee, and her first two foals would prove useful sorts in Kaimata Echo (5 NZ wins, by Jive Talk II) and Top Chief (3 NZ wins, by Top Trotter).

Jive Talk II was a son of Speedy Scot who proved of no consequence and Kaimata Echo was his best performer, while Top Trotter was only marginally better.

Chiquita Dee had missed to Elma’s Lad that season but had another Top Trotter colt at foot at the sale, although he proved to be a “niller”.

“His only claim to fame was killing three of my daughter’s pet lambs.

”Hair sent Chiquita Dee straight to Sundon however and got Stardon, the best performer for him with three wins until Uncas came along.

Stardon’s first four foals were by Earl, Monkey Bones and The Pres and didn’t amount to much, and Hair admits he was at a crossroads with Stardon until Sundees Son began putting his hand up two seasons ago.

Hair had been breeding from the family for over 20 years and before Sundees Son, no previous foal for him has even looked like going early.

“It was unexpected having any horse as a two-year-old because to date the family haven’t shown anything at an early age. That could be as much to do with my previous trainer Bevan Heron who was probably more of the view that you give trotters time, put them in a paddock until they are three or four and then try them.

“With John Dunn it was more of a case of breaking them earlier and if they show a bit then just push on with them,” said Hair.

Hair also credits the foundations for Sundees Son being laid by the talented horseman, Ross Houghton.

“It was actually Ross who did all the early work with Sunny, he was a fairly difficult and headstrong and problems getting him out on to the track at the Dunn’s where he would typically have to be lead out,”” laughed Hair.

Sundees Son is by Majestic Son, who was a top juvenile himself, winning over $500,000 at that age in Ontario, and he has well and truly shown an ability to sire early speed, with top youngsters before in Daenerys Targaryen, Majestic Time, One Over Da Moon, Prince Fearless, Enhance Your Calm, Wanna Play and Im Stately and Illawong Helios in Australia.

Majestic Son didn’t have the pedigree to suggest as much, outside of a dam that was line-bred 2x3 to Speedy Crown, but individual performance is a more reliable guide to siring ability anyway.

Put that ability over a mare by Sundon, a freak in his own right and one that has always had a noted ‘speed factor’, and there’s the recipe for success.

Sundees Son came back at three with a bang providing Colin & Nancy with a Cup Week in 2017 they won’t forget in a hurry.

Having done his chips 100m after the start, he gave Ruthless Kayla the better part of 100m start before coming around to sit outside her and grind her down for a breath-taking victory.

“That was really quite unbelievable, and what John would say is that while he tried to hunt him out early to catch the field, the move that Sunny made with 600m to go was all the horse. It was Sunny that decided he would go then, and that was probably the first of the performances he made where it was quite hard to believe what he had done,” he said.

Not to be outdone, another Hair trotter Woodstone who announced himself two days later at Ashburton, coming from five deep on the markers to win a 1-2 win trot.

“That was a bit unexpected as well, at that stage he was a fairly weak looking animal and very difficult to keep condition on him.

You see while Sundees Son has shown all sorts of ability throughout his burgeoning career, there was a while where you could have been forgiven in thinking it was Woodstone who would wind up being the better horse.

Woodstone took the incredible step from racing at Ashburton in a 1-2 win trot, to lining up 366 days later as one of the favoured runners for the Dominion!

Woodstone is a five-year-old gelding by The Pres out of the Monarchy mare, Gemstone. Gemstone is out of the Pernod Eden mare, Ikantry, who was a half-sister to Africa, and also Niamey who has gone on to produce the Group One winner and producer, Pocaro.

“I saw Ikantry over at Bevan Heron’s stable to be broken into saddle by Kayleen McCormick. She was quite a nice mare and having known the breed quite well, I had a chat to Ernie Knight. She was back at his place by then and went out to a paddock on Old West Coast Road and brought her back home.

“I bred one foal from her and got Gemstone,” he said. As Woodstone was beginning to figure the game out, Hair must have been wondering whether Sundees Son wanted to be there at all with his Three-Year-Old campaign seemingly going down the gurgler. A combination of the mistakes that haunted him at two, with an opposition that appeared to have taken the leap forward in their progression at three seeing him only run in the money twice from nine starts.

“The belief was as much as anything that it wasn’t anything permanent with him, he would get his head around being a racehorse. At this stage Craig Edmonds started doing a lot of work with him in teaching him to be a racehorse.

“He would put him in the cart and walk him round a lot, take him down the beach and just try to get his head to switch on,” he said.

As Sundees Son star dipped, Woodstone’s was once again dramatically on the rise.

A trip to the satellite stable at Auckland proved to be the making of the horse, with three big wins in the space of a month in a manner that had trotting fans sitting up and taking notice. It wasn’t just the quality of field he was beating, but the manner in which he was doing it, showing he had become just as tractable as he was speedy.

“The main reason for sending Woodstone up there was actually just to chase the dollars. He ended up winning those three races in a row and just missed out on Jewels qualification. As to who was the better, I honestly never really considered who might be better. Sunny has always been special to me being out of my first ever winner Stardon, but those runs of Woody’s were a pleasant surprise,” said Hair.

I bumped into R J Dunn prior to the Three-Year-Old Ruby at Cambridge and thought I’d ask him the question as to whether he thought Woodstone had usurped Sundees Son for ability.

He didn’t hesitate to tell me Sundees Son was the better horse. We didn’t have time to go into detail, but it was said with such confidence I didn’t hesitate to throw a cheeky each way bet on the son of Majestic Son.

Sure enough, he galloped off the gate. Only this time he put in the kind of performance he had been promising his whole career thus far. As while he was Group 1 placed in the Northern Trotting Derby, this was the best performance of the season losing 100m at the start and to run into fifth some 8 lengths off the winner.

“We went there with reasonable expectations, we knew the Purdon’s had some very nice horses in. But we knew that on his day he would be capable. At that stage we really just wanted him to trot all the way, but as he did as a two-year-old he did as a three-year-old,” said Hair.

Sundees Son joined his talented stable mate at Alexandra Park for the remainder of the season and gained a much needed confidence boost winning a fortnight after the Jewels.

“The decision to push on through the winter was just around teaching him to be a professional race horse, with no aim other than to get him settled and balanced into his regime.

As good as his confidence booster was, Sundees Son was beaten by none other than Woodstone at his next attempt at The Park after getting stuck behind a tiring leader and getting going a wee bit late.

Their final race for the 17/18 year Sundees Son was able to turn the tables on Woodstone, flashing past him for a fast finishing second behind Lovely Bundy, but it had been a year which raised more questions than answers.

They both resumed in the 18/19 season in style, but again it was Woodstone who was stealing the limelight. As impressive as Sundees Son was winning at Ashburton fresh up at four, Woodstone now had 100 rating points and found himself taking on a field of Dominion Handicap hopefuls.

Woodstone galloped at despatch in the Ashburton Flying Mile with Ross Houghton advising that he was striking the own sulky. That was quickly forgotten when he sat parked outside what was basically the Dominion field and put paid to them with ease. The way he put that field away was unexpected. When you look at the relative depth and the strength of the Auckland crop he was racing against compared to the Dominion nominees, it was day and night in terms of quality,” said Hair.

The stage was set for Cup Week and the Dunn camp decided to line Woodstone up in the NZ Trotting Free For All on Cup Day.

Woodstone was gallant in defeat working hard to find the death from barrier eight and remaining there running Speeding Spur to a head on a New Zealand Record for the 1980m trip.

“That was a huge thrill. John will say on reflection he probably should have won that race. I don’t hold those views, but John has a fairly good idea of what he is doing and thinks if he had of put it to Speeding Spur a bit earlier he could have beaten him. If you look closely, Speeding Spur was done on the Line and close to being in a pace.

“To think how far he had come from bursting up the inside at Ashburton a year earlier to running a second in a Group One, and at that stage it was my best ever credit as an owner/breeder.

“The Dominion Handicap didn’t go his way. He galloped at the start and tacked on, but when he was improving and coming back into the race he was bowled over by Harriet of Mot.

Just as quickly as Woodstone’s star had risen had it quickly come to an end suffering a season ending injury.

“There was no real sign of any injury and we sent him north for the Auckland Cup meeting trot races with the aim of the Rowe Cup later in the year. The boys up there had worked him one morning, shod him, and put him away for the night. When they returned the next day to get him out of the box the horse could hardly walk.

“After a visit to Matamata, they never actually never found what was wrong with him but told us to treat it like a hairline fracture of a sesamoid. He has had a good six months out and now back into work for another shot at the races over Cup Week,” said Hair.

Lucky for Colin & Nancy and to the same extent the Dunn’s, they had another trotter big on ability to persevere with, Sundees Son.

His four year-old season had started the same way his two and three year old seasons did. With breathtaking victories, this one at Ashburton where he scorched home in 26.2 to easily account for an intermediate field of trotters.

Sundees Son then smashed another good field of square gaiters before appearing to lose confidence after a couple of indiscretions over Cup Week.

He galloped when leading on Cup Day with Winterfell laying down the gauntlet on his outside and did the same on Show Day a few days later when challenged by Missandei.

This was now beginning to become a habit, and a heart-breaking one at that.

“It’s just hard to sort of get your head around, you sit up there in the stands and watch and don’t like to sort of even breath or shout. It is hard to come to grips with. There is nothing wrong with the horse, he isn’t sore anywhere, it is just somewhere in his head. I remember after one of those performances having a long chat with Nancy about what we should do.

“If you look at the brains trust that is actually there with Ross, Craig, John & Robert as well as being down at the beach with Greg Hope and David Butt also, they are not found wanting as a resource when it comes to knowledge and skills.

“The one piece of gear that was the turning point in Sunny’s season turned out to be putting two poles on him. It was John’s idea, it’s something that is quite common in the States and it worked the oracle in balancing him up and stopping him from hanging,” said Hair

The first time the two poles went on Sundees Son, he brained a FFA field to the tune of seven lengths with the millionaire Speeding Spur his closest rival.

Although Speeding Spur would turn the tables in the Fred Memorial beating Sundees Son by a neck, there was an initial decision that the horse would not be sent to Auckland for the Rowe Cup.

“We hummed and hawed, but after a few days of deliberating John and I decided why not. He had been there before and it was made easier with the fact Robert has a stable up there. We thought we would give it a go.

First up the Anzac Cup demolition.

“The thing about that race is when he looped the field down the back straight, the speed he showed was that of a pacer. I met someone from the club that night who said he had never seen a trotter show that much speed going around a field.

“As much as he is a speed horse, Robert has always said he was a better stayer which some people might have found hard to believe. We had the issue that he was unruly from a stand and at some stage he was going to have to go around them again.

“It was just utterly unbelievable, the emotions that you have. It was an unbelievable moment with what he achieved. The Auckland Trotting Club were tremendous in how they looked after us and I cannot speak highly enough of them.

“We had a hard time working out how to get the Rowe Cup back to Christchurch. It was way too big to fit in the luggage and we were advised to take it on as carry on. Someone came up to myself and Ken Ford who we were at the airport with and asked what we had won. Ken told them it was a Mr New Zealand contest, and I didn’t stick around to see any of the reactions,’ laughed Hair.

In winning the two feature Group Ones, Sundees Son had come from nowhere to win the Australasian Grand Circuit for trotters, staving off the Australian mare Dance Craze to do so.

Capping off an incredible year, Sundees Son backed up from an incredible trial a week earlier to break his own New Zealand record in the Four Year Old Ruby on a track that was rated as slushy.

“I have to confess that I watched the race again last night and if you remove all the hype and the fact my horse won a Group One, it was actually a rather boring race,” he joked.

Incredible he could describe the horse that once had more tricks than El Grego the magician as boring, but such is the incredible turn around in fortunes for the four-year old.

“It is funny as things go around in a circle, as Sundees Son is my first Group One winner out of my first winner and was trained by Bevan Heron. He was actually the person driving the victory lap in the horse and carriage for the winners after Sundees Son won the Jewels,” said Hair.

Now that’s a metaphor for coming full circle in a story that has had its many ups and downs, but culminated in a day and a season that the Nancy and Colin will never forget.

On the wall at home with the photos and trophies Colin has this quote from Roy McKenzie “In the breeding and racing game you need to believe in dreams, some dreams come true!”

Credit: Brad Reid

Robert Dunn has long held Master Musician as the best horse he has trained, his email address even bears the pacers name, but his near 30-year reign in that pinnacle spot could be coming to an end.

Sundees Son is quickly coming after that crown and inched closer at Addington Raceway on Friday when taking out the Gr.1 Fred Shaw Memorial NZ Trotting Championship (2600m).

It was the ninth Group One victory for the seven-year-old gelding and he once again stamped himself as the top trotter of the modern era in New Zealand.



From his ace draw, Sundees Son was crossed early by Muscle Mountain, however, driver John Dunn immediately sent his charge forward to recapture the lead.

In his customary style, Sundees Son ran his opposition into the ground, posting a new New Zealand record of 3:10.4 for the 2600m mobile trip, beating a brave Muscle Mountain by 1-3/4 lengths.

“It was a great drive by Johnny,” said Dunn, who trains in partnership with his daughter-in-law Jenna.
“You could see him looking across and he knew Ben (Hope, driver of Muscle Mountain) had the momentum and he did the right thing in not pushing Sundees Son to try and hold him.

“Luckily enough there was enough space to come out straight away. It was a perfect drive by Johnny, as per usual.

“He seems to have that ability to run most of them into the ground. When he is in that zone, he is very hard to get past.

“The horse gets all the accolades he deserves; he is just unreal.”

Sundees Son has comfortably earnt the title as the best trotter Dunn has trained, and he said he has drawn alongside two stable predecessors that have earnt champion status in his eyes.
“Master Musician and Mainland Banner were two champions in their own right and he is up there with them,” Dunn said.

I am pretty privileged to have had three champions in our care, it has been pretty special.

“He is getting towards the top of the tree because he has had nine Group Ones and there could be another couple to come yet.”

Sundees Son will get the opportunity to add to his Group One tally when he heads north to Auckland this weekend to tackle a number of autumn feature races in the coming month.

“He is coming north on Sunday along with Five Wise Men, who I would say Craig (Edmonds, co-trainer of Five Wise Men and travelling foreman for Dunn’s stable) would be absolutely thrilled with running third, and Highgrove.
“Highgrove will target the Sires Stakes and Derby, and Sundees Son will have the National Trot, ANZAC and Rowe Cups.

“If he happened to win all three, dare I say it, I might have to put him ahead of the Master, but that is going to break my heart saying that.”

Credit : Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk, 9 April 2022


Credit: Joshua Smith

Addington racegoers cheered home a champion as Sundees Son produced one of the greatest trotting performances in harness racing history to win his third straight Renwick Farms Dominion Trot.



The Robert and Jenna Dunn trained superstar had to dig deep into his stamina reserves to win the Show Day feature, willing himself to an incredible victory after fighting out a home straight war with runner-up Muscle Mountain.
The roaring reception Sundees Son and driver John Dunn got when they returned to the birdcage demonstrated the enormity of the trotter’s victory.
Robert Dunn dared to compare the epic battle between Sundees Son and Muscle Mountain with New Zealand’s most recognised test of horse racing’s stamina – Bonecrusher and Our Waverly Star’s 1984 Cox Plate.
Nobody on track argued with the trainer given what they had just witnessed.
“It was like Bone Crusher and Our Waverly Star coming down the straight – our guy is just an out-and-out champion.”
Trained by Dunn and daughter-in-law Jenna, with son John driving and Jenna’s father Craig Edmonds at the horse’s side every day, Sundees Son preparation is a family affair.
John Dunn summed up exactly what the horse meant to the Dunn-Edmonds clan after Sundees Son’s epic win when returning to meet his hordes of adoring fans.”
“He means a lot to them, but he means even more to us.”
The enormity of Sundees Son’s victory was set up by the amount of work the horse was forced to do in the running.
Muscle Mountain and driver Ben Hope gained a key advantage over their main rivals when finding the lead and parking Sundees Son.
Dunn pressed forward to take to eventually find the front before immediately being attacked by Oscar Bonavena.
That early tempo meant the first half of the Dominion was run quicker than the closing half, setting up a battle of attrition over the final 400m.
Sundees Son was clearly headed by Muscle Mountain inside the final 200 metres, but the winner somehow lifted himself to a courageous victory.
“He must have a massive ticker there, he has got the personality to go with it but he has got the motor.”
“He was out on his feet on the furlong, Muscle Mountain ranged right up to me and looked like he was going to go straight past.”
“To dig deep like that, he is a true champion.”
Sundees Son is bred and raced by Colin and Nancy Hair, who now have three Dominion trophies to put on their mantlepiece.
Immediately after yesterday’s win Hair admitted he was still coming to terms with what he had witnessed.
Sundees Son stopped the clock in 3-58.4, slower that his 3-56.6 record breaking Dominion win last year.
A strong wind and much cooler conditions at Addington than in 2021 are likely to have had an effect on the race time, despite the hectic tempo of this year’s race.


Credit: Johnny Turner HRNZ News 11 Nov 2022