Trots Centre: Country Cups kicks off with dynamite double-header

The Trots Country Cups Championship is set to kick off in extraordinarily competitive fashion, with even fields to battle in the Bendigo-Cobram double-header.

The action begins with Saturday night’s Garrards Horse & Hound Bendigo Pacing Cup, which has Our Uncle Sam $4.60 favourite in an even market for the $70,000 crown, while the star-studded Aldebaran Park Maori Mile has also divided opinions.

And the great racing is expected to spill into Sunday’s Cobram cups, where Western Sonador has been backed into favourtism in the Jim Phillips Memorial Pacing crown and McLovin’s little half-brother, Havehorsewilltravel, has been tipped on top to win Central Murray Credit Union Trotters title.

One man who looks set to be in the middle of much of it is reinsman Zac Phillips, including two pacers who he’ll steer for the first time.

“The country cups carnival’s probably one of the highlights of Victorian racing, and I think our state probably does it better than any state around Australia,” Phillips told Trots Talk.

Phillips takes the reins of the aforementioned favourite, Our Uncle Sam, for the Bendigo Cup, hoping to join an extraordinary honour roll that includes the likes of Popular Alm, Bag Limit, Sokyola, Smoken Up, Lennytheshark and most recently Code Bailey.

Our Uncle Sam, who’s won $647,626 for Chris and Anthony Frisby, would be a fitting addition.

“Unfortunately, with the new border lockdown, his usual driver Anthony wasn’t able to make it down to drive him, so I was fortunate enough to pick up the steer,” Phillips said.

“Gee he’s been a fantastic old horse – second in the Inter Dominion, second in a Hunter Cup to King Of Swing, obviously a bit of form dropped away for a little bit but he was back in form winning the Shirley Turnbull not that long ago. He’ll be getting somewhere near his best and his best is very good.”

And he’ll need to be to emerge from the very even field.

“It’s a great, great cup this year,” Phillips said. “The Bendigo Cup’s a very even field. I think that it could be $4, $5 the field, it’s just that even a race.

“Obviously barrier 10’s not ideal, but the beauty of barrier 10 this week is a lot of our main dangers are drawn there with us, which probably evens it up again.

“It’s hard to make plans from barrier 10, have to play it by ear a little, but with those main dangers drawn off the back it could be a very tactical race.”

Second favourite Fourbigmen is drawn immediately on Our Uncle Sam’s inside, while respected trio Bettor Be The Bomb, Im Anothermasterpiece and Wolf Stride are on his outside. Somebeachshadow ($8) and Somewhere Secret ($9) are the only front-line horses with single-figure odds.

It's a similarly competitive tail in the Maori Mile, which is worthy of sharing headline status having attracted the bulk of Victoria’s leading trotters.

That includes six Group 1 winners in gates one to six, while two of the three on the back row – Always Ready (gate eight) and Wobelee (gate 10) – have also tasted Group 1 success.

Among that number is Magicool, who Phillips will again steer for trainer Rob O’Connell amid a campaign that’s produced three dashing placings in which he’s been beaten only a total of 5.1 metres.

“He’s been a bit of a revelation his last few starts,” Phillips said. “I wasn’t expecting a great deal from him this early on in his prep, but his previous three runs have been unbelievable. It’s probably surprised us, it’s probably surprised a few as well.”

He'll have to be exceptional to surprise in the Maori Mile from a tricky gate.

“Obviously the draw’s not ideal – barrier five over a mile, with a lot of our dangers drawn inside,” Phillips said. “But it’s a very even race, pretty similar to the Bendigo Cup. Very even field, these trot races sometimes funny things can happen. Although I’d swap the barrier draw, I probably wouldn’t swap my horse for anything.”

Phillips will be hopeful he can roll any Saturday night success into Sunday for the $35,000 Cobram Pacing Cup, his sole drive for the day when he will partner with trainer Anthony Butt’s Alpine Stride, who’s having his first Victorian start since February 2017.

“He’s been a really lovely free-for-all horse for (owners) Emilio and Mary Rosati,” Phillips said. “Obviously Darren Binskin did a fantastic job with him up in Sydney.

“He’s the sort of horse, in that grade, he’s always going to be around the mark. It’s obviously not a weak field, as none of those sorts of races are, barrier seven’s not going to help, but he’s definitely up to it.”

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