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By Tony Megahey

For the extended Lunn family, a racing institution in the Central West, rivalry will be at its height at Sunday’s booming Dubbo TAB meeting where wily veteran Dar Lunn might just have his best yet in quaintly named Pants on Fire.

“I’m not to blame for the naming, we bought her off the Inglis digital, had some fun with racegoers over it,” chuckled Dar on the Kuroshio-Fall in Love five-year-old mare.

Pants on Fire (Chelsea Hillier) runs her rivals ragged at Dubbo. Image by Janian McMillan (Racing Photography)

“But she’s a really smart mare don’t worry - the way she’s put two big wins together has a man thinking Country Championships.

“So if she runs well again, and I think she will, she’ll go to the Coonamble qualifier on the 17th next month.”

Off successive speed wins at Dubbo over 1200m and 1400m, Pants on Fire a spectacular $5000 bargain for Dar who has an acute eye for value, contests a far tougher Inland Petroleum Country Boosted Championships Preview Class 4, 1300m.

Braith Nock claims 1.5kg off her allocated 55kg. Pants on Fire has the admirable record of four wins from 17 starts and as many placings.

Logical topweight is Brett Robb’s Sizzle Minizzle who won last season’s Newhaven Park Country Championships Final at Royal Randwick in April and has been primed by two recent Dubbo trials ridden by new apprentice Shannen Llewellyn.

She claims 4.5kg off an unprecedented 65.5kg.

“He’s the class but my mare is really well in with the 53.5kg as she carried 60kg and 59.5kg for her wins.

“She’s flying, drew the ‘car park’ (12 of 13) her last win, still got across and led and kept finding. Here we’re drawn in (4).”

While Pants on Fire is the likely leader, she did win from off the pace at Dubbo two starts back.

Dar is having a productive period also winning a recent double with Elson Boy. Dar is one of six brothers and two sisters, mostly all involved in training, ownership or breeding.

The brothers oppose each other often enough and Garry and Michael Lunn also have several runners on Sunday.

“We help each other out when needed, but in a race every man for himself,” Dar laughed.

“We train separately, I couldn’t tell you about theirs, I ride my own work, we pass to and from trackwork and that’s about it.”

Typically, the powerful Robb and Lundholm stables provide the numbers and most favourites to likely dominate the day.

At present Dubbo is a Soft 5 in fine weather.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Dubbo here