Night of upsets at Cambridge

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk

It was a night of upsets at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday night and the meeting’s 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 winning Race 2 ($50.40), Majestic Bundy Race 4 ($37.30), and May Delight Race 6 ($32.50).

Trainer Logan Hollis was intent on continuing the outsider trend with his charge Bet West.

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.”

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.”