Greg gets the job done – finally!

Bendigo trainer Greg Hutton has been dabbling in harness racing on and off since 1989 but has now been rewarded for his persistence.

Hutton achieved a dream come true with his first ever training win, when his lightly-raced eight-year-old gelding Salsboy (Union Guy-Makandilyn (Walton Hanover) got the money at his home track last week.

“When I got back to the stables my son Cameron met me and happily told me that I’d finally done it!” Hutton said.

“The horse was just sitting in a paddock really, until he was five. Clint McSwain only broke him in three years ago and he was also gelded,” he said.

“It has been a bit of a long story, but it was pretty exciting to get the win.”

Salsboy was bred by Cameron Hutton’s wife Yolena.

“We leased the dam Makandilyn off Shane Gilligan and she could really run along,” Hutton said.

“I remember one night at Ballarat when Cameron was driving her, and he let her rip at the 400metre mark. She was low flying, but broke up in the latter stages. We ended up having to retire her with a twisted tendon.”

Salsboy is the only foal produced by Makandilyn and has now only raced on 16 occasions for a win and three placings.

Hutton said after his horse had been broken in, the night before he was due to go home, he got his front foot caught in a fence.

“That took ages to mend. He was turned out for a big spell and then I decided to advertise him for lease. I got one call, but that didn’t work out when he was unplaced at Stawell and then got stood down after racing rough and breaking at Ararat three weeks later.

“When we got him back, the previous trainer said the horse had been making a noise. So off to the vets he went, and he was found to have an inflammatory airway disease.”

After deciding to give the horse a long break, Hutton produced Salsboy at Maryborough in February -12 months and one day since his previous racestart.

The pacer showed on several occasions that he had the ability to do well with second placings at Charlton and Bendigo, and a third at Maryborough, then put the writing on the wall when he hit the line hard at Bendigo on August 20 to be fifth, beaten five metres.

At his most recent start, Hutton again used young local reinsman Haydon Gray, who drove the perfect race to get the win.

After easing off the gate and sitting at the tail of the field, Gray moved out three deep down the back and was spot-on in timing a long, sustained run. The pair joined the leaders on the home corner and surged to the front, running away to win by eight metres.

While Hutton first took out a trainer’s licence in 1989, he’s had only 22 starters in a stop-start career.

After first getting his licence he raced only a few times over the next 16 months before a seven-year hiatus. He then returned for a short time in 1997 and later helped his son Cameron, who was a graduate of the Bendigo Harness Racing School.

“Cameron won a few races for them. In the 2012/13 season he also drove Pacific Opus to six wins. He was pretty good at the sport and gives me a bit of advice now and again,” he laughed.

Hutton admits it’s possibly a case of harness racing “getting in the blood”. Although not born to the sport, over the years, he’s picked up a wealth of experience while helping out such notable horsemen as the late Gordon Rothacker and Laurie Manley, along with Robert Rothacker and his dad Albert.

“I lived at Serpentine for 27 years. I worked on a property out there and played football for the local team. That’s when I got to know Robert and Albert and I’d spend weekends at their place and muck around with the horses,” he said.

“Laurie Manley also lived over the road from us. He drove the school bus and was a very astute horse trainer. He raced many great horses including Lobellent, who was driven by the late Peter Caldow for a bit.”

Harness racing records show that Lobellent (Smart Lobell-Entail (Grand Monarch) won 22 races with 23 placings from August 1980 until March, 1984. Caldow steered the former star to 11 wins. One of the sport’s most gifted and astute young reinsmen, Caldow lost his life in a car accident in northern Victoria in 1982, aged 21.

Hutton’s stint with Gordon Rothacker came when he was called up for National Service.

“I was in signals based at Watsonia and Gordon lived nearby at Doreen. I’d go down there and clean out stables, and a big highlight was when I’d get to drive a few,” he said.

“At the time he had a lot of outstanding horses like Gallagher and Christina. One day he put me on a trotter named Meadow Inn and told me to do 10 laps. The horse pulled like crazy all the way and when I’d finished, I asked Gordon if he supplied replacement arms? They all thought it was funny, but I wasn’t actually joking, my arms were so sore.”

Hutton later spent six years at Mickleham, near Melbourne, managing a cattle property. When drought hit, he moved to Bendigo and bought a milk bar.

“I was doing that for three months when I got bashed and robbed. I then got work as a carer for people with a disability in their homes. I only gave that away last year after about 15 years,” he said.

Hutton said after his training triumph, he was greeted by his wife Janice who had watched the race on trots vision at home.

“We didn’t celebrate, but we plan to go out for dinner when we can.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink