Lifelong learning compliments Cutlack’s ambitious approach

By Isaac Murphy

Trainer Jedda Cutlack may only be 25-years-old, but her open-minded approach has seen her short career blossom.

Whether it was watching other trainers as a track attendant at Albion Park, working in the Tzouvelis kennel, or following her passion with sporting dogs, she’s applied it all to her training and was rewarded with her first double at Capalaba last Sunday thanks to Dynamite Bill and Dynamite Travis.

“It was definitely fulfilling personally to know I’m doing something right with them, but I was happier for the dogs and their futures, they’d both been close at Capalaba and deserved to break through and hopefully they kick on to a few more wins now,” Cutlack said.

“It was nice to get congratulations from a lot of people, not only fellow trainers but other friends as well, I think it’s pretty important to give everyone a pat on the back to show people this is the kind of industry you want to be involved with.

“I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if I didn’t get that early encouragement, so I make a point of acknowledging people’s success.”

Cutlack was close to following a more conventional career path, but after picking up a part-time job at Albion Park while studying she began to see a future in dogs.

“Before I took the job as a track attendant at Albion Park I was working full-time in financial planning and worked out pretty quickly that’s not what I wanted to do the rest of my life, so I started working part-time at the track and never left,” she said.

“Over time I was able to observe trainers and how they were doing things and it piqued my interest more than I thought it would, that’s when I was keen to get a bit more hands on and see what happened with the dogs outside the track.

“I was lucky enough to start working with Tom (Tzouvelis) and I couldn’t ask for a better education, he does everything from pre-training, breaking in and whelping - I got a crash course in the lot.”

Cutlack is a breath of fresh air for the sport and has always found it easy to get along with trainers from all walks of life.

“I’m aware of the fact there aren’t many trainers in their mid-20s like me and I probably stand out a bit, but I’ve never found it an issue,” she said.

“Everyone is so invested and hands on with their dogs, you always have that common ground to talk about even though you might be very different outside of that bubble.

“I think the biggest thing is putting yourself out there, I’m sure there are plenty of other young people who could train, through my experience all the long-term trainers have been nothing but helpful for me.”

Even before working in greyhounds, Cutlack was curious about dogs and how the mind worked, constantly travelling interstate with her own dogs.

“It might have caught a few of my old friends by surprise seeing me get into training so quickly, but I don’t think it was a huge shock given my history owning and working with sporting dogs, they always knew I had an interest,” she said.

“Even back then it was all about learning and harnessing a dog’s behaviour, I always made sure I was travelling, going to seminars and soaking in all the knowledge I could.

“I hope I can bring a bit of it into my greyhound training, with more of a focus on an animal’s mental wellbeing to go with their physical form, I think there’s other things we can be doing to keep greyhounds right between the ears.”

Cutlack has seen her kennel quadruple in size the last month training, with a trio of dogs for Cyndie and Bill Elson along with her old reliable Kravitz.

“Tommy had given me Kravitz to train and as much as I love the dog, he’s not getting any younger and I was looking to expand with a few more race dogs,” she said.

“I knew the Elsons had a lot of dogs, so I approached Bill and said I’d be interested in training a few if they ever wanted to offload.

“Not much later I had Dynamite Bill, Dynamite Travis and Dynamic Trav; I was incredibly thankful to Bill and Cyndie for trusting me with their dogs and giving me the chance to train a few young ones with my own stamp on it.”

The trainer has gone out of her comfort zone on occasion, but is hellbent on making a name for herself and confident in what she can do for prospective owners.

“It wasn’t easy to put myself out there, it didn’t really come naturally, but that’s something I’ve learnt off Tommy - if you don’t ask you won’t know,” she said.

“I’ve just got to keep putting my name out there, because the more I do the more people will know about me and what I do with my dogs, I’ve got a few spare kennels that I’d love to fill if anyone is interested.

“It’s been a slow burn getting to this point but with four healthy dogs going in every week, I’m gradually getting to where I want to eventually be and I’ve got my broodbitch in pup now, so it’ll be a busy few months when they all arrive.”

Life has changed a bit for Cutlack as life as a trainer has kicked in, but it’s nothing she can’t handle when she wants to do it for the rest of her life.

“It’s been a big change switching my attention to pretty much training full-time, when I was working at Albion Park it was mostly afternoons and nights,” she said.

“Since I’ve had dogs the sleep ins were probably the first thing to go, but when you’re enjoying what you’re doing it makes it easier.

“I’m lucky I get so much out of it; it never really feels like work when it’s your passion as well.

“It took me a while to get my schedule and routine set, I do a lot more mowing than I would have ever imagined, but I’m pretty well set up now and hopefully I can do this for years to come.”