by Tony Logan
My quick look through the field for Thursday afternoon’s Alabar Horsham Guineas showed familiar territory in the main – the horses, the trainers and the drivers – apart from one name, Steven Rutherford who was listed to take the reins on the Gary Barton trained, 3YO colt Mustang Bart.
I had never heard of him…..Who is this Steven Rutherford ?
Facebook didn’t tell me much apart from the fact that he had a soft spot for animals, got to hold onto the famous 2015 Melbourne Cup and was a Stevie & Michelle Payne fan.
A check of the recent trial results revealed that Steven had driven Mustang Bart at Terang and Hamilton recently in preparation for its return to racing at Horsham.
So I picked up the phone and rang him for a quick chat.
“I’ve only had a handful of drives in Victoria since I moved down here from NSW,” explained the 43 year old, now Warrnambool resident. “Our family has been involved with racing horses up there for three generations,” he added.
Rutherford successfully applied for a job with Barton nearly two years ago to work both in his business Barton Waste Collection and racing stable. “I worked in the depot part of the time but now with four of Gary’s in work, three young ones to educate and one of my own here, the horses are pretty much full time.”
Steven had previously co-trained and raced pacers with his father Graham at Bulli, Penrith, Bankstown, Harold Park & Menangle and more recently spent five years working for Brian Hancock.
The Rutherford family’s best performer and their undoubted favourite was one they bred, a brown gelding called Canonlybeone. “He won 18 races and over $100,000 for us,” said Steven. “We really had a lot of fun with him.”
Canonlybeone also notched up 39 minor placings among those 149 career starts – the sort of horse every trainer and owner always loves to have in their stable.
Mustang Bart takes on some handy opposition in the 2017 edition of the Alabar Horsham Guineas but with four wins and three minors already on the board, the son of Gotta Go Cullect NZ looks awfully hard to beat.
“He’s a real gem to drive,” said Rutherford. ”From out in gate six I’ll be having a bit of a look at the others and then we’ll see how things pan out.”
Barton of course, with his father Tom enjoyed plenty of success back in the late 1980’s when they campaigned their stable star Another Bart right across the nation. “Yes Gary’s told me all the stories,” said Steven. “It must have been amazing times for them,” he added.
Anther Bart retired with a glittering record – 98 starts for 27 wins, 27 minors and a bank of $588,225. His victories included the 1998 Victoria Derby Final at Monee Valley, Australian Derby at Albion Park, Victoria Sires Stake 3YO Final and the Australian Pacing Championship when he defeated the likes of Our Maestro, Quite Famous, Village Kid, Thorate and Rowleyalla.
Alabar Bloodstock are in their 12th year as naming rights sponsor of the Horsham Guineas. They have provided an inscribed rug and trophies for the winning owners, trainer and driver together with a free service to their exciting young stallion Auckland Reactor.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
