MCC Denmark Cup Winner. Photo by Taj Stubber
Thomson Bay continued his Great Southern cup success on Saturday night, with his impressive win in the 2021 MCC Contractors Denmark Cup.
The Reeves trained pacer started from barrier seven on Saturday and after facing the breeze for the last lap and a half, proved to be too strong for his Denmark Cup Rivals.
The lightly raced four-year-old gelding, has had 9 starts for 5 wins and 3 placings, including winning the Wellington & Reeves Albany Cup back in January.
“I wasn’t particularly confident going into the race this week. My Sweet Deal had drawn favourably, and I wasn’t sure he could get off the fence,” he said.
“It’s nice to see horses like this come out of the wilderness and prove themselves valuable to trainers like myself. It’s no secret that I will give almost any horse the opportunity, but it is nice to have one with this sort of ability.”
Reeves is now aiming to send Thomson Bay to the city to race.
Driving honours were with Bailey McDonough, who won on the Barry Howlett trained pacers, Millwood Poly NZ and Lil Happy Fella. McDonough went on to win with Thomson Bay in the Denmark Cup, and then taking out the last with the Peter Anderson trained two-year-old, Path of Gold.
“He [Thomson Bay] has been going super lately and winning well, so I knew we’d have something in reserve when we needed it, but he did it a lot easier than expected this week,” McDonough said.
“Being drawn behind Born A Tiger was an initial worry, but after the way the race panned out, it was good to be out of the speed battle and be able to put him in to the race when it presented”
The ongoing tussle for the leading club driver for Albany is between McDonough and Collie reinsman, Trent Wheeler, who steered home three winners on the night. This included the second leg of Hayden Reeves’ winning double, Bountiful Reactor, taking out the standing start, making it three in a row for this combination.
With one meeting to go at Albany, there is only 13 points between the two drivers, with McDonough looking to take out his third country driving premiership this season.
“It’s definitely rewarding to say the least, but it’s also a good feeling to know that while I no longer have my claim, that there are opportunities still presenting and Hayden has been a huge part of that success.”
McDonough recently took out leading club driver at Wagin and Northam.
The battle for leading club trainer will continue into the last meeting at Albany, next Friday March 12, with Hayden Reeves narrowly leading by 7 points, over successful Busselton trainer, Barry Howlett.
