Cutlack’s star rising as Shaye’s Golden Sands win breaks drought
She is still only 27 and has the vast experience of Tom Tzouvelis as her assistant, but Jedda Cutlack has well and truly found her way in greyhound racing.
She proved this after overseeing Shaye’s convincing 1 ½-length win in the Golden Sands Final at Albion Park last week.
Starting from the coveted No.1 box, the three-year-old bitch hit the lead at the second turn and wasn’t headed from there, finishing the Group 2 feature over 600m and worth $110,000 in 35.02 seconds.
One of the young guns on the Queensland greyhound-racing scene, Cutlack rates last Thursday night’s victory almost on par with her first major triumph – Tungsten Miss taking out the 2021 Futurity.
But what was most satisfying for her was the fact she has now well and truly stepped out of Tzouvelis’ shadow and paved her own path.
It is a path that is quickly filling up with respectable achievements.
“A lot of things are still a team effort. He (Tzouvelis) helped me build up my kennel to where it is today,” Cutlack told Australian Racing Greyhound.
“But when things like (Thursday night) happen you think ‘all right – I’m not dumb and I can do this, and it’s all heading in the right direction’.”
Last Thursday night’s triumph was also a much-deserved drought breaker for Cutlack’s operation.
“Winning the Futurity (in 2021) was the first real big win for me,” she said.
“And last year we were lucky enough to make a lot of Group finals, but we didn’t win any.
“It was hard to top making the Golden Easter Egg final. I wouldn’t say it (Golden Sands) is the biggest win, but it’s on par with them and it’s a step in the right direction.”
After consistently qualifying her runners into Group finals and taking out her share of smaller features last year, Cutlack appears ready to continue her winning trend across Albion Park’s lucrative races in January and February.
But she isn’t letting her success go to her head.
“We made a lot of Group finals last year and didn’t manage to win one,” she said.
“We’ve always had good dogs, and (Thursday night) it all came together.
“Everyone has their fazes of things going well and things not. But we try to just keep it consistent.
“You can’t plan on winning Group races – they’re a bonus. But it’s a nice indication of where the kennel is at.”
With five wins from her past eight starts, there is no doubting where Shaye is at.
She continues to improve, despite the fact she will be four in June.
With 16 wins from 59 starts, saluting in the 2023 Golden Sands Final was the crowing achievement of her impressive career to date, bringing her total prizemoney earnings over $154,000.
“It all panned out perfect for her. I thought against a strong 600m field, she had to lead to win, which she did,” Cutlack said.
“And then she got a bit of space, and was able to peel away from them.
“She’s just versatile – she can run 500m and 600m now, and she’d shown us that.”
Cutlack said she would not rule out aiming Shaye at the $375,000 Gold Bullion over 520m, with the final on February 2.
“Basically whatever comes along we’ll try her at. I have no strong immediate plans for her,” she said.
“I wouldn’t pick her as a match-race dog, but I wouldn’t say never.
“But we are a kennel where if dogs can run the distance and they’re going well, we’ll throw them in and they’ll have a crack at it.
“We’re just focusing on getting all our dogs as fit as they can be, and I’m hoping things line up when they can.
“If they do, then we’ll have a crack at some bigger races.”
Making Shaye’s Golden Sands victory sweeter was the fact that – realistically speaking – Cutlack did not think she could end up on top against so many good greyhounds over 600m going into the heats.
“We just hadn’t raced her much over the distance,” she said.
“For them (kennelmates including Sunburst, Just Like Mick, Scintillate and Sorority) to miss out, but she gets in and then for her to win it – I think that was why it struck me more than some of my other wins.
“So when the box draw came out and when she did so well in the heat, she definitely had a chance.
“But if you asked me a month ago who in my kennel I thought would’ve won that race, I wouldn’t have said her.”