Jay Hopkins will have to reassess his plans for Got Unders after the veteran gelding landed an upset win in the Group Three Cameron Handicap at Newcastle.
Backing up less than a week after he beat just one runner home at Rosehill, Got Unders ($26) relished a return to his home track on Friday to outgun topweight Sound Proposition ($3.70) in the final bounds and score by a short head.
“Who’d have thought? That’s unbelievable,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins has only been training in his own right for a year after previously working under prominent Sydney trainer John O’Shea and respected country horseman Ken Lantry.
He was as shocked as punters by the win and said he would have to rejig his immediate plans for the eight-year-old.
“I’m going to have a drink. I don’t know about the horse,” Hopkins said.
“I didn’t expect to win so I didn’t have anything planned out.
“I was probably going back to the bush somewhere.”
Sound Proposition looked to have the race in the bag for fellow local trainer Kris Lees when he shot to the front halfway up the straight.
But with a five kilo pull in the weights, Got Unders was able to wear him down to give Tim Clark successive Cameron wins following his victory on Chetwood last year.
“He just kept going for me and on the quick back-up he was nice and fit,” Clark said.
Lees was satisfied by the effort of former Kiwi Sound Proposition who remains in contention for an Epsom Handicap start despite the defeat.
“He was very brave,. He had a big weight and was left exposed in front,” Lees said.
“We’ll maybe look at the Epsom depending on what weight he gets.”
Spectroscope was another 4-3/4 lengths away third.
