Client Spotlight - Colin Hair

Colin Hair’s breeding journey can only be described as one of perseverance and fate.

His superstar trotter Sundees Son won $1.4 million in stakes, 12 Group One races and the hearts of trotting fans. But the mere fact he ever existed is a long and lucky story.

Colin’s interest in racing started when working in Christchurch and attending the trots at Addington on a Friday night.

“I’d have a few beers and a few bets and that’s where the love started,” Colin explained.

“After that I moved to Auckland and did the same thing at Alexandra Park, but it wasn’t until I moved back to Christchurch and bought a small farm that I was able to get fully involved.”

Colin struck up a partnership with Bevan Heron, and set upon purchasing a horse from the yearling sales to race.

He then attended the all age sale and purchased two mares to breed from.

One was Chiquita Dee, a trotter who had placed at the races from the family of Thriller Dee, and the other was Glenmark Drive, a pacing mare.

“Chiquita Dee was a funny thing. I never saw her do any trotting around the place, she was as silly as a wet fowl,” Colin explained.

Chiquita Dee had had three foals before Colin purchased her from the sale, and sent her to Sundon.

The resulting foal was Stardon.

“There is quite a story about her, when she was a yearling she rolled under a fence. She stood up and tore the whole side of one of her back legs.”

“I called the vet, Mike Brown, he came and looked at her and said she’s not going to be any good and said I should put her down.”

“I knew she was pretty well bred and I was determined to try and save her, so Mike bandaged her up and she was in a box for about six months. You know, here was this half mad yearling that we had to change the bandage on every two days, but she eventually came right.”

Despite improving, Stardon was reluctant to put any weight on the leg. And it took a power of encouragement to get her walking properly.

“As time went on Bevan suggested that we put her on the jog frame, and just take her around slowly to get her to get used to using the leg again. And it worked, she started to get used to it.”

Remarkably Stardon did make it to the racetrack, winning three races, including her debut at Nelson.

But her endearing personality still lingers in Colin’s mind that day.

“I remember she was about to get the cart on and go out on the track and she was in one of those open yards they have at Nelson at the stables.”

“There was one empty yard between her and another horse, but she just decided she was going to have a crack at the horse one yard over. So she had to demolish the bloody fence to get there, and she did.”

“I remember David Butt was standing there about to drive her and I could imagine him thinking, am I going to have to get behind this mad thing?”

“Nevertheless, she went on to win that day. And she won three races in total in her career.”

“She was about the fifth foal I had bred by that time and the first winner I had bred, so I was pretty lucky really to get success that early into my breeding career.”

And although Stardon did have a way of making life difficult at times for Colin, either by injury or attitude, she ended up being the broodmare of his dreams.

After having four foals, Colin struck gold with the fifth - Sundees Son.

A sensation on the racetrack, Sundees Son won 34 races from just 72 starts. He won races every season from age two to seven-years-old, and set nine overall national record times.

Included in his feature wins are three consecutive Dominion Handicaps a Rowe Cup and three Anzac Cups.

Voted Horse of the Year in New Zealand twice, Sundees Son was also the first trotter in New Zealand to earn one million dollars without leaving the country.

Three Dominion wins was something Colin and his wife Nancy could only dream of, as just having a runner in the great race was their dream.

“Being a breeder of predominantly trotters, you’d always love to have a horse in the Dominion. And we had a horse called Uncas who initially couldn’t even get a start, he was the first emergency twice.”

Uncas won ten races in his career and was a full brother to Stardon, he did though go on to start in the Dominion twice. Woodstone also started in the great race for Colin and Nancy.

Sundees Son more than delivered on the dream, but it was no easy experience watching him race and the pressure that came with owning a champion.

“You were always nervous watching him race, especially during the early days, because he was inclined to break,” said Colin.

“But we found it even more so when we would take him to places like Omakau and Invercargill. You’d watch the crowd lining up at the fence to see him run, and hear people around you talking about him and how wonderful it was he was racing there.”

“Nancy and I would quietly hide in the stand and just hope he’d do the job for those people who had come to see him.”

His first Group One win was even more intense for Colin and Nancy, in particular.

“That first Anzac Cup at Alexandra Park we were in the viewing booth above the owners area watching the race. And I think Nancy just about passed out that time at the end of the race, I remember Peter Baken came over to her and told and to breathe! Breathe!” Colin laughed.

“I’m not too sure how many finishes of his races Nancy has actually seen, you just can’t bear to look sometimes.”

Colin and Nancy Hair (right) celebrate a Dominion win

It was a sad time when Sundees Son had to retire due to injury, and despite the efforts of many to try and work a solution for the horse Colin felt it was the right thing to do.

“Sam Taylor called connections in the UK and the US and we could have tried things to keep him going, but after everything he had achieved we felt it was the right thing to retire him.”

When it comes to selecting a stallion for his mares, Colin says he just ends up going on instinct.

“There is just sometimes an inkling that something will click with your mare.”

“I remember when I first sent a mare to Sundon and being told by Bevan not to. That Sundon would hit himself in his races and he would always hear him hitting his gear in his races, well that didn’t seem to stop him leaving good horses.”

“And the breed has changed a lot now, you used to get some French stallions that would leave horses like draft horses. That’s not the case now.”

“But I think in all honesty the strength of my breed comes from Sundon and his mares now. And Majestic Son obviously clicked well over mine.”

“We ended up with two peas out of the same pod with Sunny’s Sister.”

Remarkably, Sunny’s Sister won nine of her 30 starts, but also experienced a similar injury to her older brother.

Fortunately Colin has been able to continue breeding from her, and has a colt via embryo transfer by Tactical Approach.

She’s now in foal to Tactical Landing.

Colin also has a Habibi Inta colt out of Missy Lass, who has been a bit of an eye catcher at Wai Eyre Farm.

“I’ve never had a foal with so much bling. It has two knee high white socks, a big white blaze and it’s chestnut. It’s incredible!”

“I’ve always had the plain bay standardbreds, but this one is bling all over. We are still trying to work out a name for him.”

And it’s thanks to partnerships in his breeding career that have made it so enjoyable for Colin.

“My relationship with Wai Eyre Farm has been a long and loyal one, and they have always treated us and our horses with great care and respect.”

“I have been sending horses there for about 25 years. I take the mares there to be served, and then they go back again to foal.”

“The team there have been so wonderful over the years. And Darryl has been bloody tremendous.”

“I remember once in the middle of the night someone opened my paddock gates on to the road and let my broodmares out. Including one which was in foal. Unfortunately she did the splits on the road and fell over, we were lucky we never lost the foal or the mare though.”

“I remember talking to Darryl about what had happened, and two hours later he showed up with his tractor and baleage on the forks for me. It was really thoughtful and supportive of him to do that.”

And then, Stardon decided to create some more drama for Colin on her way to Wai Eyre Farm.

“I was taking Stardon down to the stud to foal, and then as we left my gate she fell over in the float. She ended up underneath the front rails inside the float. I had to call for help.”

Colin called the farm, along with Ross Houghton and Sam Taylor and soon all hands were on deck to help.

“Ross works with the fire brigade, so he called them in to help us and they had to cut the float to get her to be able to stand up again. Then they stayed in the float with her, and the fire truck followed us down, lights going and all.”

“She was ok after that but the team at Wai Eyre made sure she was ok, gave her all the extra attention she needed. Thankfully she and the foal were ok.”

Colin is also grateful for the aftercare involved with the stud.

“If something isn’t quite right with the foal, which can happen, Wai Eyre are always onto sorting it out early. You know, like feet trimming and shaping, bandaging, health – you know that extra attention to detail and care is being taken with your horses.”

“It has just been tremendous working with them.”

So as a breeder, has Colin Hair consider that he’s done everything he set out to?

“People ask me isn’t breeding a horse like Sundees Son something that you dream of? And my response to that is no, you don’t dream of something like that because you can never actually believe you could get a horse as good as that.”

“In the early days all you wanted to was to breed a horse good enough to qualify and get to the races, and then hopefully win one.”

“You can never actually dream you’d get a Sundees Son.”

A dream he never knew he had, realised.

And the fateful legacy of Stardon still continues through Colin’s powerful broodmares.