By MIKE DILLON
The Sunline camp had a nervous time Saturday night worrying about the gruelling first-up effort to win Saturday's $A150,000 Apollo Stakes in heavy conditions.
If Sunline could talk she would tell them: "Forget it."
"She has come through the race remarkably well," said co-owner and trainer Trevor McKee, who watched the race on television at Ellerslie races.
"I admit I was worried, because they all seemed to be making pretty hard work of it, which is hardly ideal when they are resuming from a spell."
But son and training partner Stephen put everyone's mind at rest with yesterday morning's phone call.
"She came back after the race and ate a complete meal and Stephen said she is as bright as she has ever been.
"He said she looks better this morning than she did yesterday morning before the race."
Which says a lot about Sunline's constitution.
The champion mare was making hard work of it in the testing Warwick Farm footing when Adam pressured her halfway down the home straight.
"I thought she was going to be beaten at that point because she hit one of the two bad patches and lost her footing," said Trevor McKee.
"But once Greg [Childs] gathered her up and she got balanced again she charged forward and went from being only a neck in front to being a length clear. It was a matter of her getting traction."
Winning back-to-back Doncaster Handicaps, this time with 57.5kg, will be no breeze for Sunline, but the bad news for the mare's opposition in the $A2.5 million feature is that McKee rated the mare as no better than 90 per cent fit going into Saturday's race.
"She's better than we have ever had her for a first-up effort - her work here last Sunday morning was phenomenal - but she is still a fair way off her best."
Greg Childs almost never makes comparisons, but was happy to declare Sunline the best he's ridden after the Apollo.
McKee said it was almost certain Sunline will have only one further run going into the Doncaster, the $A500,000 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill.
"The three week gap between races seems to suit her better than two weeks. She had three weeks going into the Doncaster last year and three weeks before taking the Cox Plate."
Hire, the horse many consider the one Sunline has to beat in the Doncaster, finished third in the Apollo, one length and a long head behind.
Hire carried only 0.5kg less on Saturday and drops to 5kg below Sunline in the Doncaster.
Larry Cassidy, disappointed at not being aboard Sunline, was taken with Hire's effort.
"He was never happy in the heavy footing," said Cassidy.
Sunline remains a short-priced Doncaster favourite with Hire firming slightly as second favourite.
Racing: Sunline laps up tough win
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