Bering Sea on trial for Country Cups campaign

By Glenn Davis

Rockhampton hobby trainer Mark Cochrane is hopeful top weight Bering Sea can book a Central and North Queensland Country Cups campaign at Mackay on Tuesday.

Bering Sea – a Ryan Wiggins mount – will be out to end the winning streak of rival Siberian Route in the Open Handicap over 1560 metres at Mackay on Tuesday.

Bering Sea is lining up for his only his seventh start for Cochrane and is coming off a close second to Jetski in a 1500 metre Open Handicap at Rockhampton on April 20.

Cochrane rates the lightly raced six-year-Siberian Route as the main threat after the former South Australian made a winning return to racing at Barcaldine on April 29.

Siberian Route started his career in South Australia for the training partnership of Tony and Calvin McEvoy but was sold after winning two of his first three starts.

Since moving to North Queensland, Siberian Route has won four times in five starts with his only defeat when second in an 1100 metre Class 3 at Rockhampton in January.

“I think Siberian Route is the one to beat but I’ll be disappointed if my bloke doesn’t run in the first three,” Cochrane said.

“There looks to be plenty of speed in the race but my bloke doesn’t have to lead.

“If he races well, his next run will be in the Mackay Amateur Cup in a few weeks and we’ll see what happens then.

“I’d like to run him in the Rockhampton Cup and if he can pay his way, take him north for the Cup races up there.”

Bering Sea is also a former interstate galloper having started his career in Victoria with Stuart Webb before being moved on to fellow Victorian Robert Hickmott and eventually finding his way into the David Vandyke yard at the Sunshine Coast.

However, after winning three races with Vandyke over an 18-month period, Being Sea was sold to North Queensland but struggled in eight starts for former Townsville trainer Chris Attard.

Since being moved again to Cochrane late last year, Being Sea has recorded one win and three seconds in six starts.

Cochrane has a small stable of three in work in Rockhampton but is keen to boost his stable numbers after a failed venture to Brisbane.

“I trained in Brisbane for about six months but I couldn’t get suitable stabling,” he said.

“I had horses based at Albion Park but I had to travel them to Ipswich every day to work them and it just didn’t work out.”

Cochrane worked as a part-time security guard at the Port Of Brisbane during his time in the south.