JOHN RUTHERFORD

FORMER Kiwi John Rutherford, 41, has been spreading the greyhound bug.

Rutherford, a harness horse devotee when a youngster in New Plymouth in NZ,

has become a confirmed greyhound fan who regularly attracts newcomers into

the industry.

In fact, he has almost all his home town of Gatton talking greyhounds such

has been his success in attracting newcomers.

``When I first got into dogs, I realised you had to have good quality bred

pups out of city winning bitches if you were going to be successful,''

Rutherford told The Journal.

``And to do that I needed the backing of newcomers to the industry.''

Rutherford is a newcomer to the industry himself.

``I've always been racing mad,'' he said. ``I was 15 and living at New

Plymouth in NZ. Each week I would get a bus on a Friday night to the stables

of a old harness trainer called Les Phillips.

``I would spend all weekend there helping him with the horses. Les had a

really smart thoroughbred called My Binny years before this.''

Eventually Rutherford was training and driving in the Taranaki region with

some success.

Always a sports fanatic he and wife Wendy had a look at Brisbane while

watching a cricket Test on TV and liked what they saw.

``In 1988 it was about time for a change for all of us so we packed up and

headed to Brisbane,'' he said.

He had been working as a mechanic in NZ but was keen to try other work in

Australia.

``We arrived at 1am and by 4pm that day I had a job working at Sci-Fleet at

Kedron,'' he said. ``It was obvious if I was to get work, I had to stay a

mechanic.''

He stuck at that for three months before moving to Kooralbyn Golf Course

near Beaudesert.

In 1995 he shifted to Gatton to work the golf course there and his sporting

life was to take a huge turn which that move.

``I got to know Mark Luxton because he runs Gatton Bearings and I had a lot

to do with him through my job at the golf course,'' Rutherford said. ``Mark

had Golden Bearing going to stud at the time and I got involved with him in

greyhounds.

``Before that I had no interest in greyhounds.''

Mark had Rutherford hooked in no time.

``It was about the time Lawnton closed,'' Rutherford said. ``I decided to

get into dogs and Mark has been a tremendous help.''

John's first dog had to wait. He had to get the money to pay for his new

hobby first.

``I took a second job at weekends looking after a day care centre. It took

me 18 months to get the money to build my kennels etc,'' he said.

His first dogs were a couple of giveaways.

``My first runner was a bitch called Haunted Lady at Toowoomba,'' he said.

``I got called into the steward's room to explain why she finished 15

lengths last. It was a great introduction.''

His second dog was a problem child called Ghost Fire. ``I got it patched up

and won at Capalaba and Toowoomba. I was hooked by then.''

Then followed Classic Rhythm a former Tony Zammit-trained galloper who came

to the Rutherford kennel after having already won two races but with a

limited future.

``I got him to win five more mostly over 390 metres at Toowoomba for a group

of guys in Toowoomba,'' said John. ``We even ran second at Albion Park one

night. That was a huge night. We had a lot of fun with that dog.''

Rutherford had put himself through school to get into greyhound racing. ``I

was in the first GRA trainer's course,'' he said.

He had also been helped by many others. ``Tony Apap loaned me a tape of Jim

Gannon checking dogs. I played that about a hundred times,'' he said.

``Today I check my own dogs, get Mark to help if I have a problem, and

Graham Beh if neither can fix it.''

After Classic Rhythm, Rutherford decided it was time to lift his standards.

``The only way to get good dogs is to buy pups out of city winning bitches.

Mark had Golden Bearing mated to Bobniak and I put in an order for some of

them but unfortunately she had a phantom pregnancy.''

Rutherford answered a few adverts for pups, Jurassic Vapour-Budster and

Malawi's Prince-Lady Lou being the pick of them.

``I approached people around Gatton to take shares in the pups. Gavin

Linnan, the bank manager, had raced a dog when working in Rockhampton 13

years ago,'' Rutherford said. ``He took a share, so did the Gatton Star

editor Chilla Johnston, and John Morris the Holden dealership principal. I

convinced them to get a pup. Gavin suggested we take the black bitch from

the Malawi's Prince-Lady Lou litter because he had raced a black bitch when

in Rockhampton 13 years ago.''

That pup is now Lou's Cruise a multiple Albion Park winner.

The Jurassic Vapour-Budster races as multiple Albion Park winner Bam Bam

Bigalow.

``I got the boys from Classic Rhythm's syndicate into the Jurassic

Vapour-Budster pup.''

Since the success of those two buys, things have blossomed for Rutherford

and his syndicates.

``Tony Apap put me on to John Dart who had three Bobniak-Aleta pups for

sale. We took them all and I have syndicated them,'' he said. ``Staff

members of the Westpac banks in Toowoomba and Gatton have one, friends and

relatives of members of those first syndicates have bought in.

``Now we go out and all these people talk about is their greyhounds.''