Racing: Sunny looks future topliner

With a little over a month to go in the season, it is clear that the 3-year-old trotting filly of the year award will go to One Over Kenny.

And with a group one win and a couple of group twos in the bank she will thoroughly deserve it.

Just which filly from the crop will ultimately prove to be the best however, is of course up for debate.

On the strength of two brilliant wins, one could make a case that Our Sunny Whiz, who lines up this evening in race six, is even more promising than One Over Kenny.

That might seem quite a stretch given the moderate quality of opposition she has faced.

But her last-start win was simply too good for her to be anything but a future topliner.

Consider this, not only did Our Sunny Whiz break the national record for her age and sex over 2200m but also ran nearly a second faster than the colts' and geldings' record, which has stood since 1993.

Moreover, she seemed to do it effortlessly, coasting her last 800 metres in a rarely seen 57.3 seconds while missing a shoe.

"It's a bit frightening really," said her trainer Ken Sefonte. "She's got so much speed she's like a pacer.

"She's a big rangy filly and she just needs a bit of time to grow into her body."

Despite her big reputation and those startling race times, Sefonte remains patient with the horse he already rates as the fastest trotter he has handled.

Having resisted the temptation to chase the big age group races either here or in Australia, tonight he lines up Our Sunny Whiz in the more low pressure setting of a 1-3 win trot.

It seems she would only need to step away from the start to win again.

"She won a qualifying trial back in November and then I turned her out," said Sefonte. "The 3-year-old racing was the main reason we brought her back but we decided to keep her to the standing-start races.

"She can be a little bit fiery behind the mobile but she's only galloped about twice in her life."

In tonight's race, the painfully erratic Shine On Alisha is probably closest to Our Sunny Whiz for sheer ability but her record of 10 starts at Alexandra Park for no placings does not engender confidence.

In her favour, however, are her smart win at last weekend's Pukekohe workouts and the additional time she has now spent with new trainer Richard Brosnan.

Should both she and Our Sunny Whiz make mistakes then the consistent Specialiam and Brighton appear best placed to take advantage.

After this evening's race Our Sunny Whiz will shortly be turned out once more and ultimately targeted at December racing.

Ken Sefonte has comparatively moderate expectations for his only other runner tonight, Mystical Sands in race two.

The 2-year-old daughter of Sands A Flyin will debut tonight against older opposition but Sefonte says she can be competitive with the right run.

"She's a lovely-gaited little filly and qualified okay. I was looking for a 2-year-old maiden for her but you've got to start off somewhere.

"If she gets a good handy run then she does have a quick sprint."