Tomorrow night he will experience the highlight of 31 years in the industry as a trainer with a runner in the $500,000 Inter Dominion Pacers final at Menangle in NSW.
It's a scenario every trots trainer would love to experience, but few do.
Sanderson has done the hard yards to get his talented pacer Dangerous into the most prestigious race on the Australasian harness racing calendar.
He spent 26 years learning the training craft in Queensland before a five-year stint at Menangle before moving to train at Charlton in Victoria three-and-half years ago.
Earlier this year Sanderson got the chance to own his own property north of Murchison previously run by Peter Clark who specialised in getting horses, both standardbreds and thoroughbreds, with problems and injuries back on track and to the racetracks, so bit the bullet and purchased it as a family enterprise.
As well as himself Sanderson has an in-demand concession reinsman son Ryan, who is making a rapid rise in the driving ranks and predicted to be one of the drivers to have a huge future in the industry.
There is also his daughter Abbey, another driver still on her learner plates who has showed she can hold her own against the best in the business.
It was a big move, but Sanderson is content with what he did and along with a pacer he trains, Dangerous, is starting to get the rewards from the move.
Sanderson said Charlton horseman Joey Thompson, who broke in Dangerous, now a four-year entire by Sweet Lou, had predicted early he was a pacer well above the ordinary.
The fact is Dangerous has progressed to the stage where he is one of the top fancies for tomorrow night’s Inter Dominion final after some slashing form in the heats, including a win in the last round of heats at Menangle last Saturday night.
It was the 10th win from 35 starts for Dangerous, who has also racked up 16 minor placings and prizemoney which topped $200,000 with his latest win.
Sanderson has savoured one Inter Dominion experience before when in Queensland, but under a one heat qualifying format which didn’t quite go to plan for him.
But he is hoping his new hope Dangerous may be able to rectify that experience tomorrow night.
Dangerous certainly has the form and the draw — barrier two — to be one of the genuine chances of writing his name into the history books.
And all that dreaming Sanderson has done this week would provide a fairytale ending to a fairytale story in an industry that has a lot more downs than ups.
Other pacers with Goulburn Valley interests in Curly James and Max Delight have also made the cut for the final tomorrow night, but Shepparton-trained Cantfindabettorman will have to rely on scratchings to get a berth in the final field as he is the first emergency.
Curly James ran third in his final round heat won by Captain Knock while Max Delight, driven by Shepparton horseman Nathan Jack, had no luck in the same heat being forced to race wide, but boxed on well to finish fifth.
In the final Curly James has drawn barrier five and Max Delight barrier 10, two off the second row, for the 2300m showdown.
Former Shepparton-trained trotter The Locomotive made a clean sweep of the Inter Dominion Trotters Championship heats with a win in the final heat on Saturday night to add to his other two heat wins.
He has also drawn to run a bold race in the final from barrier four, while Aldebaran Park at Wahring will also boast a runner in the final in Aldebaran Zeus who will come from gate seven.
