Federal Light, a litter sister to Steve Fairbairn's Wentworth Park winner Federal Aussie, had been placed in four of her previous eight starts at headquarters and Eaton said he had thought Wednesday's race gave her a good chance of breaking through.
"She is no world beater but has early pace and is a good chaser,'' Eaton said.
"From the boxes I actually thought John Finn's greyhound Zipping Dione had got up to pip Federal Light on the post but when the numbers went up she had won by a head.''
Eaton was destined to be involved with greyhounds, as his grandparents are Joan and the late George Singline, while his mother and father Carole and Jeff are successful trainers as are his aunties Lorraine Atchison and Noelene Holloway.
Carole and Jeff Eaton have long credited much of the success of greyhounds they have raced to Scott's interest in the breeding industry and his knack of being able to select the right sires for their brood bitches.
Eaton, 39, and his wife Jacqui own a successful physiotherapy business, and while Jacqui is "hands on" he is the office manager so is able to find time to train and breed greyhounds.
"Federal Light's dam Flo Jo Focus is a litter sister to Whatta Lurker, a very quick short course dog my parents raced,'' Eaton said.
"Whatta Lurker won 17 races and was a track record holder and he and Flo Jo Focus are by Kiowa Producer, an American sire.
"I like the American stud dog outcross which is why I bred Federal Light by mating Flo Jo Focus to Aussie Infrared, a top class Australian dog with an American pedigree.''
Eaton's best ever dog Federal Morgan began his career in Australia but after heading to NEW ZEALAND he won the group 1 Hatrick Classic and Auckland Cup double, broke Little Mother's long standing Manawatu 457m record and took out three group 2 finals through his dazzling early pace.
"He is now at stud in Australia while Federal Ranger, who won the group 1 Futurity in NZ, is now back racing for me here in NSW,'' Eaton said.
"Federal Ranger is a very quick dog and he won over 400m at The Gardens on July 30 but in hindsight I may have rushed him back to Wentworth Park too soon and he finished down the course at his first run there on August 6.
"I learned a lot about training greyhounds from my 'pop' George Singline, who was against trialling a dog too often, always saying every trial is a race a dog could have contested.''
Cumbria Mal will be hot favourite for tonight's Jock Dalton Memorial final at Nowra after drawing box one and winning his heat last week in easily the fastest time, 29.88 for the 520m.
But trainer Steve Fitch was hoping for box eight with his promising youngster, pointing out: "He is turning into a nice dog but runs a bit wide.
"Cumbria Mal will go back to Wentworth Park shortly as he won first-up there in 30.06 on July 30 when he had not previously seen the track.
"After that win he became a fourth grader at Wentworth Park on Saturday nights which is why I headed to Nowra when the Jock Dalton Memorial came up.
"But I'll be going back to Wenty for a Wednesday meeting with Cumbria Mal, who has now had five wins and five placings from 16 starts.
"Cumbria Mal is by Fernando Bale from my brood bitch Hill Top Belle, and until recently I had been disappointed in this litter compared to her previous litter, sired by Barcia Bale.
