Sunshine Delight on song for Bundaberg Cup Final

By Jordan Gerrans

Beachmere trainer Paul Mcilveen anticipates track specialist Sunshine Delight will be a four-length quicker dog come the Final of the Bundaberg Cup next Monday.

The black dog was one of four heat winners for the Group 3 Bundaberg Cup Final on Monday afternoon with Sunshine Delight running out the 550 metre journey in 31.11 seconds.

Sunshine Delight’s effort was the second quickest of the four heats – Lucky Lance home in 31.05 seconds – and Mcilveen thinks there is plenty of improvement left in his kennel star.

With Albion Park and Capalaba out of action in recent weeks, Mcilveen has not been able to trial Sunshine Delight and the rest of his kennel as much as he would like but the dog is still firing on all cylinders.

He started as a $1.28 favourite in the second of four heats on Monday afternoon and eventually scored by two lengths.

“He had a massive blow after the run on Monday as he has not been able to trial lately because of the lack of trialling opportunities,” Mcilveen said.

“He was underdone in the heat; he did it tough the poor bugger but he kept on going.

“He will strip fitter next week.

“He is a very good chasing dog; he is a big gross sort of dog that needs a bit of work.”

Living on five acres with the dogs, Mcilveen thinks the 13-time career winner - Sunshine Delight - can again step up come Final time next Monday.

Prize money has been increased for the Bundaberg Cup Final to $60,000 ($40,000 to the winner) with the event now progressing towards Group 2 status in three years’ time.

Sunshine Delight will carry the yellow rug in the Final.

“Hopefully we can get a bit of extra work into him this week and ping the boxes in the Final and he will give them something to chase,” Mcilveen said.

“He probably peaked approaching the home turn in the heats but he kept finding going to the line.

“All going well, there is two, three or four lengths improvement in him going from this run to the Final.

“It is a red-hot field for this Final.”

The hobby trainer purchased Sunshine Delight from a mate of his, who bred him from a My Redeemer and Lemon Sunrise litter.

While based at Beachmere, the Mcilveen kennel certainly love their experiences heading further north.

Sunshine Delight is unbeaten in four trips to Bundaberg – three times over 550 metres and once racing over the shorter 460 metre journey.

They headed north for the Bundaberg Young Guns series earlier this year and Sunshine Delight was set to jump from box one in the Final but following the heavy rain in Brisbane, Mcilveen opted to not make the long drive back.

In winning a heat of the Young Guns in February, Sunshine Delight smashed the track record over 550 metres with a scintillating 30.91 run, which was quicker than previous holder - It’s A Rush at 30.96 seconds. 

He now has the chance to claim a feature race at Thabeban Racing Complex.

“He really goes well at Bundaberg, I find it to be a really big track,” Mcilveen said.

“He can really stretch out.

“He gets those legs going beautifully on a track like that.”

Mcilveen, who has been training for around three decades, recalls taking dogs up to Bundaberg many years ago with his daughter along for the journey in the car.

The heats for the Bundaberg Cup were dominated by southern-based kennels on Monday, John Catton’s Little Byrnes, reigning Capalaba Cup champion Impact and Robert Ayres’ Lucky Lance all claiming one.

With the increased prize money on offer, Mcilveen says South East Queensland trainers have to look north and race their dogs.

“It is phenomenal, the prize money in Queensland has gone through the roof at the moment,” he said.

“Not just this race in Bundaberg but you look at the races at Ipswich including the Young Guns, the money just keeps going up.”

Ellis’ Impact has 22 victories to his name from just 39 career starts and Mcilveen believes he will be hard to hold out of the Final on Monday.

Another from the Mcilveen kennel, I'm The Bill, ran second in a heat of the Listed Ipswich Young Guns on Saturday night.

An all new race in 2022 - the Bundaberg Wildcard - which was run earlier this month, handed local trainer Allan Watts a starter in the upcoming Group 3 Bundaberg Cup with All Genres.

Watts’ All Genres has drawn box eight for the decider.