Dunn warns of "sub" attack on Winx Guineas

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Matt Dunn is hopeful the well-travelled Subterranean can finally live up to his potential in the Group 3 Winx Guineas at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Dunn is now based in Sydney but still maintains his stable at Murwillumbah, just over the Queensland and NSW border.

He originally set up a satellite stable at Warwick Farm while training at Murwillumbah but his numbers have grown so fast in Sydney that it has now overtaken his country base.

“I’ve been in Sydney now for 10 months and I’ve got 50 horses in work there and only around 30 at Murwillumbah,” Dunn said.

“We made an assumption with Subterranean that he would make the next step in Sydney for three-year-old races last year but he didn’t quite measure up.”

Subterranean rocketed into contention for the Winx Guineas following a decisive win for jockey Jim Byrne in the T.L Cooney on Ipswich Cup day on June 18.

Brodie Loy will have the mount in the Winx Guineas.

Dunn has never lost faith in Subterranean’s ability since the gelding finished a close fifth to Converge in the Group 1 J. J. Atkins at Eagle Farm last year.

Subterranean won the Group 3 Ken Russell Classic at the Gold Coast last winter before finishing eighth, beaten four lengths by Tiger Malay, in the Group 2 Sires Produce Stakes.

The son of Rebel Dane was then spelled and sent to Dunn’s Sydney stables for the spring but didn’t measure up to the trainer’s expectations.

Subterranean had five starts during the Sydney autumn carnival including three at Group level but was hampered by wet tracks in the Eskimo Prince, Hobartville Stakes and Hawkesbury Guineas.

“He didn’t quite measure up in the spring and he struck a lot of wet tracks during the autumn,” Dunn said.

“We even sent him to Melbourne looking for a dry track.

“I sent five horses there but only two raced and he was one that never got a start.”

Dunn’s desperation for firming footing saw him send Subterranean back to Murwillumbah after he finished fifth in a Benchmark race at Scone in the middle of May.

“I decided to send him up back up north to find a dryer track and to get his confidence back,” he said.

“He did that in the Cooney at Ipswich and it was good win after Jim Byrne had to make a long run on him.

“He’s only four but he’s widely travelled having raced in Queensland and NSW and he’s been to Melbourne.

“I don’t think it’s an overly strong Winx Guineas this year and he’ll race well even if we get a wet track.”