Day to remember for Jedda Cutlack at Ekka Sweepstakes

By Andrew Smith

Jedda Cutlack is used to scoring winners at the track, but the young greyhound trainer picked up a different crown well away from Albion, Ipswich and Capalaba on Sunday.

Her greyhound Beth, who races under the name She’s Sweet, was crowned Best In Show in a strong field at the Ekka Sweepstakes.

“I’ve only been to three Ekkas now but I feel like that was definitely the biggest turnout, so it’s good to have a lot of people getting involved and makes the competition a bit harder,” Cutlack said.

“It was fun and the best part of the day was just interacting with the public and them seeing dogs that are still racing.

“This one old guy he was patting the dog and said ‘I used to race at the Gabba’ and he’d been out of dogs for years so I guess it’s good to remind those people that we’re still around.

“I think most people think they don’t see dogs mid-career out and about so when you let them know they’re in the middle of their career they go ‘oh ok.’

“It’s good to sort of show they’re exactly like any other dog and the kids always love them…it is good to sort of have the kids interact with them as well.

“I think it’s good for the dogs as well - usually I take puppies and I didn’t have any to take this year…but it’s good experience for them to see so many people and have that sort of interaction for them as well.”

She’s Sweet is no stranger to victory, with nine wins from 35 starts - but can now add a win of a different type to her resume, after picking up an injury a few months ago.

Cutlack said she knew the temperament of her black bitch would impress in the sweepstakes.

“There’s a reason her race name is what it is - when Tom (Tzouvelis) was trying to name her he was asking for suggestions and was kind of laughing at what I was throwing up,” Cutlack said.

“I said ‘oh but she’s just so sweet’ and her race name became ‘She’s Sweet’ and she really is.

“We’ve bred and reared her - she will just come up to the fence and look up at you so I’ve always had a soft spot for her.

“It’s nice to see other people think she’s as cute as I do!”

Sunday was definitely a day to remember for Cutlack, with her kennel’s Valhalla taking out the Queensland Straight Track Championship Final to book a spot in the National Final.

The trainer was keeping a keen eye on proceedings at Capalaba, explaining how she almost gave the Ekka a miss.

“Some of the races I watched at the Ekka, and then I was halfway home when the Final at Capalaba was on - I had to stop and made sure I watched,” Cutlack said with a laugh.

“I was that close to not going to the Ekka as well - I nominated but we sent dogs up to Townsville and we originally planned on driving up there and I thought if Tom goes up there, I’ll have to go to Capalaba because they were pretty hopeful we would make the straight track final.

“It was only sort of last week where he didn’t end up driving and I thought ‘oh that’s good, you can go to Capalaba’ and I can show and I’m glad that it worked out like that!”

It was a hotly-contested 2023 edition of the Ekka Sweepstakes, with 53 entrants battling it out across a range of categories in the Canine Pavilion.

The main competition, Best of Breed, saw the return of some previous winners including Jazz (Not A Fox) and Rufus (Chase A Lot) who were looking to score victory again, while the Jemma Daley-trained Olivia and Luna were taking part in their very first Sweepstakes.

Contestants came from across South East Queensland, with dogs and their handlers travelling from as far away as Gympie and Rockhampton to compete.

That included a previous winner of Rockhampton Greyhound of the Year - Are Jay Lochie, who finished a gallant second in the Veteran Dogs 6 years and over at the show.

Additionally, the Greyhound Adoption Program joined the Sweepstakes for the first time in 2023, with seven dogs invited to compete in a special GAP class, raising awareness for the solid work of the program which is run by the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission (QRIC).

King (King Sure Can) is a recent addition to the adoption program, and took home the trophy for first place in the GAP Class.

Other winners included:

• Puppy Dops – Jimmy (Jason Bloomfield)
• Intermediate Dogs  - Liam (Jemma Daley)
• Open Dogs – Mookie (Louise Moulds)
• Veteran Dogs – Dom (Sharon Toomey)
• Puppy Bitch – Olivia (Jemma Daley)
• Intermediate Bitch – Beth (Jedda Cutlack)
• Open Bitch – Zara (Lucy Roche)
• Veteran Bitch  - Sasha (Sharon Toomey)