She won her first Group One race in October 1998 and three-and-a-half years later she's still doing it.
Today New Zealand's champion Sunline became the first mare to win two runnings of the STC Coolmore Classic 1500m G1 at Rosehill in Sydney with a courageous effort under 60 kg on a dead track. She had previously won the race, carrying the same weight, in 2000.
Sunline jumped well from a less-than-ideal barrier one, but was steadied by Greg Childs behind early pacemaker Poppett, and then eased into the middle of the track, away from the tougher inside running that had earlier slowed up Tie The Knot in the Ranvet Stakes.
Taking the lead at the top of the straight, the big mare faced the challenges of Gentle Genius (52 kg) and Nanny Maroon (53 kg), but with a reminder from Childs she found all that was needed and pulled clear to win by a half-length in a time of 1:30.05, the last 600 metres in 35.10 seconds.
Sunline has now won 29 of her 42 starts, among them eleven Group One races (eight in Australia, two in New Zealand and one in Hong Kong), and her stake earnings for owners Trevor McKee, Thayne Green & Helen Lusty exceed $A9 million. Today her breeders Susan Archer & Michael Martin also received acknowledgement by the sponsor Coolmore Stud, which presented a breeder's trophy for the race.
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Today New Zealand's champion Sunline became the first mare to win two runnings of the STC Coolmore Classic 1500m G1 at Rosehill in Sydney with a courageous effort under 60 kg on a dead track. She had previously won the race, carrying the same weight, in 2000.
Sunline jumped well from a less-than-ideal barrier one, but was steadied by Greg Childs behind early pacemaker Poppett, and then eased into the middle of the track, away from the tougher inside running that had earlier slowed up Tie The Knot in the Ranvet Stakes.
Taking the lead at the top of the straight, the big mare faced the challenges of Gentle Genius (52 kg) and Nanny Maroon (53 kg), but with a reminder from Childs she found all that was needed and pulled clear to win by a half-length in a time of 1:30.05, the last 600 metres in 35.10 seconds.
Sunline has now won 29 of her 42 starts, among them eleven Group One races (eight in Australia, two in New Zealand and one in Hong Kong), and her stake earnings for owners Trevor McKee, Thayne Green & Helen Lusty exceed $A9 million. Today her breeders Susan Archer & Michael Martin also received acknowledgement by the sponsor Coolmore Stud, which presented a breeder's trophy for the race.
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