Night of big upsets at Cambridge

It was a night of upsets at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday night (Mar. 9) and the meeting’s harness racing feature, the Bay of Plenty Cup (2700m), was no exception.

Three victors paid more than $30 on the undercard prior to the main event, with Sonsofthemerch (Majestic Son) winning Race 2 ($50.40), Majestic Bundy (Majestic Son) Race 4 ($37.30), and May Delight (Bettor’s Delight) Race 6 ($32.50).

Trainer Logan Hollis was intent on continuing the outsider trend with his charge Bet West (Bettor’s Delight).

The Bettor’s Delight gelding was rated a $21 winning chance with bookmakers, but he belied his odds to take out the Cup after given a beautiful trip in the trail throughout by Hollis.

“He is very good from a stand and it was a bonus having Sailesh (Abernethy, driver) in front because he ran us along at a two minute mile rate which made it hard for the back markers,” said Hollis, who trains in partnership with Shane Robertson.

“He lacks a little bit of speed, but he has never gone a bad race for us.

“He has had four stands now and he has gone away brilliant every time.

“The stand is a bonus for him because he puts himself in a handy position whereas from behind a mobile he ends up back. We just need a few more stands.”

BET WEST REPLAY

The Country Cups Final at Addington Raceway is looming as a potential target for Bet West and Hollis said he just needs to figure out a path toward the $100,000 feature.

“He still needs one more start to qualify (for the final). Palmy is not on the cards, there are a couple down there, but there is another race on the night of the Grins race,” Hollis said.

“It is just a matter of whether we get enough points to get in, but if he does he will be going down there for a $100,000 race.”

Earlier on the card, Hollis was also pleased with the efforts of Two Eye See when he placed in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Mobile Pace (2200m).

“It was a nice lead-up race for the Derby (Gr.1, 2700m) in two weeks. We will make a little gear change going into the Derby,” Hollis said.

“We ran second with Luke John a couple of years ago. It is good to have him in there.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Joshua Smith, for Harness News Desk