DIGBY NUTHALL – READY FOR HIS FIRST HAWKESBURY STAND-ALONE

IT’S Hawkesbury Race Club’s 20th Saturday stand-alone metropolitan meeting – and Digby Nuthall’s first.

But it’s a safe bet come the weekend the club’s new racecourse manager won’t be overawed in the least.

The 25-year-old is arguably one of the youngest in his position at a metropolitan or provincial track in Australia.

It might be a baptism of fire presenting the best track possible under the watchful eyes of racing fans throughout the nation, but it’s nothing new to this impressive young man.

“My first race meeting when I became racecourse manager at Scone nearly 12 months ago was the Cup meeting on the Friday,” Nuthall explained.

“And whilst I have been at Hawkesbury for only a short time, everyone has been so accommodating.

“I’m really enjoying working with a great team here, and getting to know all our local trainers.”

Nuthall has indeed come a long way – and not just in distance travelled - to secure such an important position; one he certainly never envisaged growing up.

From south of the border, Geelong-born Nuthall grew up at Young in country New South Wales before the family moved to Albany in Western Australia.

(Digby pictured above at Flemington with Bunbury Racecourse manager Kyle Potter)

“To be honest I didn’t have a passion at all for grass and turf management,” he said.

“I wanted to be a teacher, but took a gap year and being a keen cricketer, that was a good enough excuse to head overseas.

“I spent six or seven months in the UK, and started studying at University when I came home.”

Needing a job, Nuthall took up a position as a casual hand at Albany racecourse – and one thing led to another.

University plans went out the window as he subsequently began working with Perth Racing and became a supervisor.

“I had promised my parents I would be in a permanent role by the time I was 25,” he said.

“Current Newcastle Jockey Club racecourse manager Chris Nation was working for Perth Racing also ‘before moving back east, and suggested I should apply to become his assistant.

“I spent two years with Chris and his team at Newcastle before being appointed as racecourse manager at Scone last year.

“When I saw that the Hawkesbury job was being advertised a couple of months ago as Kyle Cassim was returning to the Australian Turf Club (at Warwick Farm) and caretaker Rick Johnston was retiring, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.

“With so much knowledge of Hawkesbury, Rick has been tremendously helpful to me and he will be greatly missed after having given 20 years service to the club.”

One of Nuthall’s first goals was to set about building relationships with local trainers.

“That is so important,” he said. “It’s obviously good to be able to grow grass, but it means nothing if I don’t have good relationships with our trainers.

“They also have a business to run, and I have already learnt a lot from them in the short time I have been here.

“They want to see you at the track, and I make sure I’m available to discuss matters with them.

“It works both ways.”

Hawkesbury had received 80mm of rain in the few days up until Wednesday afternoon, and Nuthall upgraded the track from a ‘Heavy 9’ to a ‘Heavy 8’ this morning, with the rail in the TRUE position for the mammoth 10-race program.

“Fortunately being inland, we haven’t had anywhere near as much rain as coastal areas,” he said.

“Whilst we had 15mm of rain on Tuesday night, we had a nice windy day on Wednesday, which certainly helped.“I’ve been given a terrific opportunity to manage a leading provincial racecourse, and look forward to a big day on Saturday.

“It might be my first Hawkesbury stand-alone, but hopefully the first of many.”

Story John Curtis, May 1, 2025 - Pics supplied