A maiden metropolitan win was a long time coming for Central Victorian harness racing couple Tori Hutchins and Luke Dunne – and now that it’s finally happened, they’re hoping it’s just the beginning.
Their reliable campaigner All Da Rage (Betterthancheddar) brought up his 19th career win in stylish fashion at Melton on Saturday night (July 26) – and in doing so, delivered a special first for all three: trainer, driver and horse.
“It was a relief to finally get that first metro win off our shoulders,” Hutchins said.
“Luke has been trying for so long that it had just turned into a running joke with everyone,” she said.
“He’s just had no luck down there – he’s had flat tyres, broken gear, close seconds, a few placings but just no luck. So we decided to start making fun of it thinking it was never going to happen!”
Despite the “metro win curse”, Hutchins said they went into the race quietly confident, given All Da Rage had finally drawn gate one – the first of his 57-start career.
“He’s fallen victim to the rating system so he hasn’t been able to buy himself a good draw, so we thought that drawing one, it was his race to lose!” she said.
The milestone marks another highlight in a breakout season for the young couple, who relocated to Charlton’s state-of-the-art training centre in September last year.
Since then, they’ve been steadily building form and confidence – and the results speak for themselves.
Hutchins is enjoying her best season as a trainer, with 17 wins and 25 placings from 91 starters so far, striking at an impressive 19 percent. Dunne is also having a career-best season in the sulky, with 52 wins and more than $294,000 in stakes from 414 drives.
“Moving to Charlton is what changed everything for us,” Hutchins said.
“I think finally having the freedom to do what we want to do with the way we train, and we have so many people we can turn to for help. Michael Gadsden and Emily Wombwell are the first we turn to if we are ever stuck – they’ve been a massive help to us.
“Luke’s been able to take a big step up in the amount he drives (414 so far this season, compared to 700 for all of 2024), especially since we are closer to Mildura, and Charlton is so central to every track. It really opens the options up when we place our horses, too.”
Hutchins currently has nine in work – down from a high of 15 in recent months.
“We cut back our numbers over the last few weeks with the wet weather and just because Luke’s been driving a lot more. Fifteen was just too many for me to do on my own every day,” she said.
“We have a nice little team we think. Rakero Warrior is still just at the beginning of what could be a really good prep, and also Jilliby Tidalwave, who just keeps stepping up to the task – she keeps surprising us!”
