Just four months after having a crack at going full-time in the sport, Stuart Barron has landed his first winning Wentworth Park double in 38 years as a trainer.
In March, Barron took 12 months' long service leave from his 35 years' employment at a Sydney suburban council to try his hand at being a professional trainer.
"I wanted to see if I could make a go of training full-time so rather than quit work, I took my long holiday,'' Barron said.
"My wife Debbie and I relocated to Raymond Terrace and built six kennels.
"I have won plenty of doubles at the provincials but had not won two races at WP until last Saturday night.
"But that meeting was the first time I had enough dogs to bring four to Wenty because until we moved I never had more than three kennels.
"I have to thank Darren Sultana, who has trained dogs for me in the past, for Starburst Milly even going to WP last Saturday.
"When nominations for the meeting were extended Darren suggested I nominate her because she had clocked 24.30 in a post-to-post slip there.
"I doubted she was ready to run a strong 520m but took Darren's tip and was pleasantly surprised when she jumped in front and kept kicking along well enough to win.
"With any luck I could have won a treble as Irinka George, which was sold to us by Jack Smith, Palawa King's trainer, was very unlucky in his race.
"My father George Barron trained greyhounds and I got my first dog when I turned 17.
"But it wasn't until I moved to Cambridge Park that I really started getting winners.
"I became friends with the late Ray Minty, who trained the 1990 National Derby winner Master Hilo, and with John and Jane Carruthers, who trained the champion Rapid Journey.
"My greyhound training 'apprenticeship' was served with Ray, Jane and John, and I am honoured to be now training a greyhound for the Carruthers family, who I have been friends with since the 1990s.
"They don't often entrust their dogs to others, they mostly train for themselves, but after their bitch Secret Door had a couple of falls and was down on confidence they asked me to play around with her.
"So I took her to Muswellbrook, where the lure is very noisy, and she won for me there on May 8 and again three days later.
