Champion Thoroughbred: Sunline

One of the most successful mares in racing history is undoubtedly

, Sunline (1995-2009) who made her owner rich by $11,351,607. The female racehorse travelled the world, stamping her authority on race tracks in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Foaled in New Zealand in 1995, the thoroughbred mare won back-to-back W.S. Cox Plates in a glorious career that included a win as a three-year old in the Doncaster Handicap, the toughest mile race in Australia.

The middle distance champion was named New Zealand Horse of the Year four times and won the Australian Horse of the Year championship three times. Throughout her racing career, Sunline wouldn't settle for anything less than being the leader or just behind the leader in almost every race. A remarkable record of 13 Group One wins is proof of the mare's prowess, outnumbering Makybe Diva who had seven Group One victories to her credit.

Sunline was trained under the watchful eyes of Trevor McKee, who ran the filly 3 times as a 2 year old who without surprise won all three races. These wins were probably her ticket to the bigger racing platform in Australia, where she won her debut race in Sydney over a distance of 1400 m in the Group Three Furious Stakes. Surely, a superstar in the making, 1999 was another great year for Sunline, with all of eight starts in New Zealand, followed by a second place in the Angus Armanasco Stakes back in Melbourne. Critics say it was lack of fitness that made the filly come in second on the day. Her never-say-die attitude continued in the Kewney Stakes, followed by the Cox Plate and Moonee Valley Oaks, beating AJC Oaks winner Grand Archway by four-and-a-half lengths over a distance of 2400 m.

Sunline's next race on her list was the tough mile race the Doncaster Handicap. Sunline led from the start and won the race easily by one-and-three-quarter lengths. This made her only the fourth filly to win the race in modern history. A hot favorite in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 5000 m., Sunline could only make it second-last to the finishing post, leaving critics to debate on whether it was the distance or the fact that she had five previous outings that tired her in the end.

Sunline was introduced to weight-for-age racing as a four year old with a strong victory in the Group 1 Warwick Stakes. After a small hickup in the Epsom Handicap and George Main Stakes, the filly ran in the Cox Plate and won very easily which proved her critics very wrong about her running out the 2040 metres.

Sunline raced and won the Breeders Stakes in New Zealand in preparation for a journey to Hong Kong. Sunline, however, managed to only finish seventh in Hong Kong in the International Cup. Back in Sydney in the Autumn of 2000, Sunline's winnings continued with a win in the Apollo stakes, then a win in the Coolmore Classic, and then another fantastic run in the All Aged Stakes being a weight for age race.

The filly's great form continued as a five-year old in Melbourne, blazing the tracks at Moonee Valley with three wins in a row in the Manikato Stakes, Memsie, and Feehan Stakes. One of her most memorable victories in 2000 was her victory by seven lengths in the Cox Plate, beating Diatribe, winner of the Caulfield Cup. Sunline's habit of winning never seemed to stop with successes in the Waikato Sprint in New Zealand and then a trip back to Sydney to win the Apollo Stakes at Warwick Farm Racecourse. The Champion filly finally retired with 27 wins, an Australasian record that will be very hard to match.

by: K Cummings

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