Eventful few days on and off the track for O'Sullivan

The 21-year-old enjoyed success with a win apiece at Cranbourne on Sunday and Charlton on Monday to boost her career tally to 55 winners.

Her Charlton winner came aboard Realy Under Fire, a horse trained by her father, Gordon Rothacker medallist Jim O'Sullivan, who turned 74 on Sunday.

Shannon regarded her Cranbourne victory with Gone And Forgotten for Amanda Grieve as the perfect present for her dad and the win on Realy Under Fire as the icing on the birthday cake.

But there would be plenty more drama to unfold for the young driver.

Roughly an hour after saluting on Realy Under Fire, O'Sullivan would find herself on board an air ambulance, lending support to her fellow concession driver Ryan Sanderson, who was involved in a nasty fall at the start of the following race at Charlton.

The 17-year-old was badly injured after being dislodged from the sulky and was later transported to The Alfred Hospital, where he was diagnosed with internal bleeding, but cleared of any broken bones.

O'Sullivan, who stayed overnight in Melbourne, but was unable to see Sanderson in hospital due to COVID-19 restrictions, said she was grateful his injuries were not as severe as first thought.

"When he got tipped out, the horse behind him ran over him, and at the time there were fears he may have broken his pelvis," she said.

"Fortunately, we got the results back on Monday night and there were no breaks, but he will probably be there for a few more days.

"It's sad, Ryan was just starting to get into the rhythm of it and was starting to drive some nice horses and get some nice winners.

"Even more disappointing, he had a few metro drives on Saturday, which he will now miss out on.

"He's been knocking on the door of a metro win - hopefully it comes soon after he's back."

Sanderson's father, Shane, late on Tuesday, issued a thank you to those who assisted his son and others for their good wishes.

"A big thanks to Kylie Harrison and the stewards," he said in a statement on Harness Racing Victoria's website.

"Also, to Joe Thompson and the staff at Charlton for all of their support and for what they did for Ryan.

"We are very humbled by the support the family has received from so many within the industry.

"A special thank you to Shannon O'Sullivan, who went with Ryan in the air ambulance, and Colleen Aiken for her support."

In a further blow, fellow driver Austin Mifsud was also hospitalised on Monday, after being tipped out before the start of race six, which was eventually won by Realy Under Fire.

O'Sullivan, who was involved in a horrific fall of her own earlier this year at Ouyen, but was back in the sulky within a couple of weeks, has hit a nice patch of form with three winners in 11 days.

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O'Sullivan in 'good spirits' after horrific fall

They include two with Gone And Forgotten, who has posted consecutive victories at Geelong and Cranbourne.

O'Sullivan, who has one drive booked at Echuca on Wednesday night (Mister Zhivago) and one at Stawell on Friday (Ellen Ruval), is hopeful the momentum can continue, especially with Realy Under Fire.

"He had been knocking on the door. He was close at his first run back at Bendigo when he came fourth and they ran pretty quick time and he just got run down by a better horse," she said.

"Then he raced at Echuca and drew the back row over the short distance and was held up, but he came home super. He had nowhere to go and ran to the line hard-held.

"We thought if he drew the front at Charlton he would be hard to beat and he went really well.

"We were a bit worried, there was a fall that happened, so we had to pull up and go back to the stalls and wait to find if they were going to re-run the race.

"I was a bit worried, after that because he got quite stirred up, but he settled down after about 10 minutes in the stalls, so I thought he'd go well after that.

"He settled really well and I was thankful I could get cover, he didn't have to work too hard and didn't get pressured."

Realy Under Fire, who had a succession of trainers before landing at the O'Sullivan stables in Heathcote in February of 2018, has now won 15 of 190 races and been placed 41 times.

Five of those wins have been for the O'Sullivans.

The joy of victory with Gone And Forgotten meant Shannon was only too happy to foot the bill for dad's pub birthday dinner on Sunday night.

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