He’s part of the new generation.
And he’s got all the skills to make it to the very top of the mountain.
He’s young, fast, strong and richly talented.
We’re talking about the Robert and John Dunn prepared Sundees Son, a brilliant winner of the Gr.1 $100,000 H R Fisken & Sons ANZAC Cup at Alexandra Park, Auckland tonight (Friday).
Starting from the outside of the second-line in the 2200m mobile start feature, the rising star delivered a breathtaking back straight bull rush move when he looped the majority of the field before racing clear of race leader Marcoola at the top of the straight to easily score from defending champion Lemond and Majestic Man in a new race record time of 2:41.6.
It was a stunning performance from a trotter destined for bigger things.
When the field was released, race favourite Massive Metro made a break and lost all chance while Ronald J pounced on the early lead from Everybody Knows, Lemond and Temporale.
The lead time was covered in 41.8 seconds.
As the field passed the 1300m marker, Marcoola took the lead from Ronald J and kept up a genuine tempo and rolled through an opening quarter of 30.1 seconds.
With a lap to run, Marcoola led the way from a parked out Temporale while Ronald J and Lemond sat close with cover.
At this point, Sundees Son was last of the main group and standing up the leaders a very tidy start.
The second quarter was timed in 31.9 seconds.
As the field turned into the back straight, driver John Dunn eased three wide with Sundees Son and launched a withering attack with 800m left to run.
Sundees Son sustained his sprint and went unimpeded with his move three wide and quickly got outside of Marcoola as they passed the 600m point.
The third quarter was covered in 29.2 seconds.
Approaching the home turn, Sundees Son put away Marcoola and opened a healthy lead while Lemond and Majestic Man chased valiantly.
At the line, Sundees Son scored by 1 ¾ lengths while a neck separated Lemond and Majestic Man.
The final split was 28.4 seconds with a winning mile rate of 1:58.2.
The winning time eclipsed the previous mark set by Habibti Ivy at 2:41.9 set back in 2017.
Sundees Son joins Marcoola (Dominion), Tornado Valley (Inter Dominion), Dance Craze (Great Southern Star) and Big Jack Hammer (Grand Prix) as winners of Australian Pacing Gold Trotting Masters events for the 2018/19 season.
Next week, the Gr.1 $150,000 Re-Harvest Rowe Cup will complete the season.
Again, the 3200m stand-start feature will be staged at Alexandra Park, Auckland.
And Sundees Son has a golden opportunity to complete the North Island feature trot double and take the title of the APG Trotting Master.
