CHRIS Nutt, whose greyhound Jingjing scored her fourth win in as many starts at Wentworth Park last Saturday night, received his biggest boost in the sport through an incorrect phone area code being published in a for sale advertisement for an 18-month-old greyhound.
“Around 10 years ago Robbie Phillips, who raced the outstanding sprinter Knockabout Wok, advertised a well bred bitch who was a litter sister to Marty Hallinan’s Zarbo,’’ Nutt explained.
“My mate Shaun Evans and I contacted Robbie but because of the wrong info in his advertisement, ours was the enquiry he received so we were able to buy her for just under $2000.
“We named her Paris St Germain and when she came in season four months later, Paul Wheeler, who was our mentor, told us that was nature’s body clock indicating she wanted to become a mother.
“So even though she was only 22 months old, we used a free service we had secured to Kevin Gordon’s stud dog Lochinvar Jet and mated her.
“That union produced Nitro Nori, who won the group three Gold Coast Cup at Bulli in 2006 and was a finalist in the 2007 National Sprint Championship at Sandown.
“Also in Paris St Germain’s first litter was a brilliant front-runner, No Comply, whose suffered was cut short by an extremely rare illness of cancer in the blood.
“Her second litter to Go Wild Teddy produced Uncle Bully, a very good dog trained by Luke Azzopardi, and Slick Rick, who won his first six races but became an erratic chaser and was suspended for failing to pursue the lure keenly when beaten a nose in a 659m race at Bulli.
“Shaun and I struck gold with the third litter to Surf Lorian because it included St Pierre, which we reared and broke in and who won the 2011 Australian Cup, Devonport Cup, St Leger at The Gardens and who qualified for the National Derby final.
“St Pierre was in Debbie Cannan’s kennels in Tasmania when he won the Australian Cup and that win gave me far and away my biggest thrill in the sport.
“I have sent several dogs to Tasmania to be trained, heeding advice I took many years ago from Paul Wheeler who suggested placing greyhounds appropriately, saying ‘if they want to be Tassie dogs, let them be Tassie dogs.’
In partnership with Shaun Evans, CHRIS Nutt now runs The Oaks rearing and breaking in establishment founded by Paul and Jan Wheeler and their son Brendan.
Nutt’s interest in greyhounds had been tweaked through playing basketball with Shaun’s brother Bradley Evans, his best friend at Camden High School.
“Brendan’s brother had a couple of greyhounds and around 20 years ago I bought a pup from Shaun called Paloma’s Reward which became my first winner," Nutt said.
“At 14 I had been a dairy farmer and then a forklift driver but because I was helping Paul Wheeler trial his dogs I would often head there instead of to my forklift job at Wetherill Park.
“It wasn’t long before I joined Shaun in working at the Wheeler kennels on a full-time basis and Paul gave me Princess Bale to train.
“She was an outstanding stayer who, after failing to get a draw when a reserve for a big 720m final, trialled before the meeting and clocked 42.11.
“At the time that was the fastest 720m recorded by a bitch at Wentworth Park when the record was held by Tasmania’s Chinatown Lad at just under 42 seconds.
“When she was retired Princess Bale produced Barcia Bale, who won 13 of 14 races, 12 of which were in the fastest time of the night, Schnikey Bale, Baguette Bale and Desalle Bale, winner of the 2012 Ladies Bracelet.’’
Because Shaun and CHRIS are currently rearing 100 puppies on the ex-Wheeler establishment at The Oaks, as well as educating up to 40 juveniles each month, time constraints mean CHRIS Nutt has only Jinging in training.
But he also owns Varcoe, who won the Group 2 Launceston Cup in February and is now being trained for him in Sydney by Mark Gatt.
Considering he helped break-in Barcia Bale, that greyhound, along with sentimental favourite, 1999 Melbourne Cup winner Kantarn Bale, rank with Australia’s biggest stakes earner Xylia Allen as the best he has seen.
But Nutt has a particularly soft spot for Xylia Allen, which he declares “the hardest chaser I’ve seen in my life.’’
