Champion race horse Sunline wins the W. S. Cox Plate in 2000. By then it was widely recognised that Sunline was the greatest mare bred in New Zealand since Desert Gold, over 80 years earlier. She was also rated world champion mare in 2000, having won the world champion turf mare title the year before. Under the care of trainer Trevor McKee and his son Stephen, she won 32 of her 48 starts, including the Cox Plate twice, and the Hong Kong Mile against top international company. She was Horse of the Year four times in New Zealand and three times in Australia. When retired in 2002, she had earned almost $14 million, making her Australasia's biggest stakes winner. Sunline died in May 2009 after developing an incurable disease, and was buried in the grounds of Ellerslie racecourse. A life-like bronze statue was erected over her grave.