The rumours had been circulating for a while in harness racing circles in New Zealand that the champion racehorse and sire Sundon was struggling with health issues.
Today Keith Gibson, the managing director of Roydon Lodge confirmed those rumours.
"Unfortunately yesterday we had to euthanize Sundon." (recorded as Sondon in the USTA’s stud book).
"We were no longer able to adequately manage the pain he suffered from the effects of arthritis and laminitis," Keith said.
Imported from North America as a weanling, the son of Arndon was a star performer on the racetrack but it is the siring barn that he made his biggest impact as he revolutionized the trotting breed in Australasia.
It is hard to do justice to the impact Sundon has had on the trotting scene in Australasia but a few of the following facts may give you an insight.
In New Zealand where there are at best only three trotting races per meeting, Sundon has sired the winners of $26,514,146 to date and it is still rising.
Sundon also currently leads the overall New Zealand broodmare charts by over $250,000 from In The Pocket which is a fantastic achievement for a trotting sire.
His broodmare earnings in New Zealand alone already stand at $13,061,329 and he hasn't just been the dominant sire in his adopted country.
Sundon has also sired the winners of over $15,000,000 in Australia (Nz+Au bred) and $9,475,184 in North America and his total earnings worldwide are in excess of $50,000,000.
Sundon is one of those once in a lifetime horses whose influence on the trotting breed in Australasia will continue for generations to come.
We here at Harnesslink offer our condolences to Keith Gibson, Michael House and all of the Roydon Lodge staff on the loss of such a magnificent horse.
Harnesslink Media