By Mike Dillon
Trevor McKee had to take a quick glance at his magnificent Takanini training property as he fielded questions about Sunline yesterday.
He had to keep reminding himself he didn't need the almost hideous amounts of money being offered by Northern Hemisphere buyers for his winning machine, Sunline.
The irony is McKee has always been a seller.
Few came from more humble beginnings, and for three decades he has sold anything that wasn't nailed down to climb the ladder.
By his own admission he has no interests outside training and trading racehorses.
He has been too busy accumulating to concentrate on footy or golf.
He kept selling rather than enjoying the fun of racing his horses long after developing one of racing's most magnificent training properties and owning several farms and South Auckland properties.
It has taken Sunline to make him see the other side of thoroughbred racing.
It would have made no difference to where he stands today, but there was real relish in McKee's voice yesterday when he said: "I'd have loved to have had her 20 years ago - I wouldn't have said no to the money then."
He says he can't declare exactly how much money has been offered for Sunline, but it's well into the millions, with the emphasis on the plural rather than singular.
"It's astronomical, but she's the best I've had, so I'm going to enjoy her."
The Sunline camp has turned down three serious offers from the United States, two from England and one from Ireland.
The way Sunline made talented filly Grand Archway and company look like walking machines in the $A1 million Moonee Valley Oaks on Saturday suggests there is every chance she can win whatever is offered for her.
And what will help her do that is she is so good she takes nothing out of herself setting up a pace which she finds comfortable but has her opposition working.
In that sense she is unbeatable in own-age racing, but the Doncaster is an entirely different type of race. It is extremely difficult to lead in, but then few as good as Sunline have tried it.
"She doesn't have to be in front, but why not if you can get there as easily as she does," McKee said.
McKee continues to be staggered by how physically well Sunline comes through her racing.
"She's remarkable. The more you dish up to her the better she gets.
"She looks better after Saturday's race than she did before. And she looked pretty good before it."
Lee Freedman might have the satisfaction of being the only trainer to have beaten Sunline, but after his filly, Rose O' War, finished a tired fourth behind Sunline at Moonee Valley on Saturday, he brushed past McKee on the way to the weigh-in and said: "For God's sake get out of our road, will ya."
There will be a lot more roadside obstructions before Sunline is finished.
In the same form as she showed on Saturday the Cox Plate in October would be close to in the bag and after that, although McKee is reluctant to even discuss it, a Northern Hemisphere campaign is possible.
Horse Racing: McKee breaks lifetime habit to keep Sunline
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