Impressive debut

PLANS remain modest with Dutton despite his eye-catching win at Club Menangle yesterday.

Making his debut, Dutton rounded up his more experienced rivals much to the delight of trainer David Thorn.

“I was very impressed with his run,” Thorn said. “Without putting the ranch on him, I thought he was a big chance as he is pretty handy.

“His owner is very patient and doesn’t like racing two-year-olds, and while he did have some trials as part of his preparation, he was back in the paddock instead of racing.

“To be honest, he probably wasn’t ready at two, but showed improvement between each preparation and is getting better all the time.

“At this stage he’s no star, but if he keeps heading down track he’s travelling, who knows how good he can be.

“For now though, we’ll just keep poking around here and see how he goes. He is eligible for the Breeders’ Challenge, but he’s got to improve to be competitive in that.”

Driven by Will Rixon, Dutton was caught two-back along the pegs from the pole as Wills Way worked to the lead from barrier seven.

Desperate for an opening leaving the back straight, Dutton was weaved through traffic to be five abreast down the home straight as he sprinted to a 1:54 win from Tristar For Chris and Wills Way.

“Like I said, I gave him a good chance, but thought he just needed some luck,” Thorn said. “As it turned out, he didn’t get the luck and had to be steered through them, but he finished it off very well.

“He hasn’t gotten the idea of running past them yet, but he’s getting better at it.”