Sundees Son won his third Dominion Trot on end in one of the great modern day harness races at Addington on Friday.
The wonderful trotter needed all of his champion qualities to claw his way back past Muscle Mountain after the much bigger horse had clearly headed him up the passing lane in the $300,000 Group 1.
It capped a stunning race, with Muscle Mountain’s driver Ben Hope stealing tactical advantage with a lightning early move to wrest the lead and initially park Sundees Son, before the latter attacked again to get the front with 1700m to run.
That left Sundees Son a target at the top of the straight, but he demonstrated phenomenal courage, straining every fibre of his little frame to pull back in front in the last 20m, edging even further up the honour roll of our greatest trotters.
The drama continued in the other Group 1 open class race when Self Assured came from last to win the NZ Free For All, grabbing Majestic Cruiser right on the line with Old Town Road a massive third in a race set up for the swoopers.
It was Self Assured’s first win of this campaign and added the last major NZ pacing race he had yet to win to his CV. He has also captured a New Zealand Cup, two Auckland Cups and the inaugural Race by Grins.
Victorian raider Rock N Roll Doo was a brave fourth after having to sit parked the last 1000m.