BRAD Angove is as appreciative as anyone of the green light given to harness racing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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But the Newstead trainer could be excused for thinking a little bit about what the landscape might look like right now without coronavirus.
All things being equal, Angove would be trying his luck with Sundons Courage against the cream of Victoria's trotters, much as he did as recently as February in the Group 1 Southern Star.
But for now he is content to target a few wins under the regional racing model at Bendigo.
The seven-year-old notched up his 20th career win in 73 starts with his victory in the NR 62 to 105 trot on Thursday.
This was no ordinary win, with the son of Sundon, out of Truscott Photo, smashing the Lord's Raceway 2150m track record with a blistering mile rate of 1:56:9.
"He's absolutely airborne at the moment," was Angove's frank assessment of his classy trotter.
"But with this coronavirus and everything, it's put a bit of a kibosh on our plans.
"But at least we are still racing.
"We were thinking we'd be racing him in all the big Group races, he's sort of up there with the best.
"He's come back this year as good as he's ever gone in his life, if not better, so the idea was to have him race those Grand Circuit horses and be right up there with them, but it just hasn't panned out that way."
Sundons Courage was having his third 'regional-racing' start, with his first in early April coming in a rare appearance against the pacers.
He followed up with a fourth behind Nephew Of Sonoko, off 40-metres, but was able to turn the tables on the Ross Graham-trained gelding on Thursday.
The best-credentialed trotter in the central Victorian region, Sundons Courage won a Group 1 as a two-year-old and the Group 3 Vicbred Super Series Silver Trot and Group 2 Breeders Crown Championship as a four-year-old.
His career earnings are approaching $250,000.
Angove said he was by far the best horse he'd had in the stable.
"He's been a lovely horse all the way through, you don't see too many horses that race the best ones from two-years-old and up and keep improving as they get older," he said.
"This is the best he's probably gone in his life.
"He's always raced the best horses and has just kept getting better."
Angove was certain Sundons Courage had not seen the last of Nephew Of Sonoko and predicted a bright future for the Graham-trained four-year-old, who has this season won five races and been placed six times.
"He is definitely the up and comer on the block, he's only a four-year-old and really only starting off his career," he said.
"Courage has been racing Grand Circuit horses all his life, so it's probably hard to compare right now.
"Nephew Of Sonoko's run again (on Thursday night) was fantastic considering the time and obliterating the track record, and him sitting outside of me the whole way.
"You couldn't take anything away from him, he was brilliant."
The track record was the fourth broken at Lord's Raceway this year.
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