BULL RUN BYTE landed trainer Kevin Hutton a third victory in the Classic as the Gilbert Anderson-owned runner left her rivals seeing red in Saturday’s £15,000 final of The English Oaks at Swindon.

Drawn in trap one, the inside slot enabled the November 2016 daughter of Romeo Recruit and Tullowmac Java to pace up into the lead along with fast-starting Queen Franklin (Liz McNair) and, taking the shortest route to hit the front at the turn, was never headed.

Bull Run Byte crossed the line two and three-quarter lengths clear of Touchdown Erin (Belinda Green), with favourite Sonic Spur (Chris Akers) running on for third a further half a length behind. The winning time was 28.29sec (-40).

For Hutton, victory for Bull Run Byte added to the Oaks wins of Droopys Daneel (2013) and Ravenswood Flo last year – for good measure the Monmore trainer then landing a one-two at his former home venue with Magical Vera runner-up.

“It’s probably my favourite competition and has been good to us,” he said. “We had the first and second last year and, back in 2013, Droopys Danneel kicked things off for us pretty much when she won the Oaks. She later threw Dorotas Wildcat – and the rest of course!

“It’s great to win the Oaks at Swindon again. It’s where we started out and is our local track, we trial dogs there and watched the developments. The new track is a decent gallop still and they’ve done a good job with the first and second bends.

“I’m delighted to win for Gilbert Anderson, who’s a great supporter of myself and the kennel, and I know he’s thrilled. Gilbert wants to thank Jim Quinlan, the ‘Bull Run’ man who supplied him with Bull Run Byte and is a good man to deal with.

“Byte was actually unlucky to go out of the Oaks last year but certainly wins her share of races and has come to her peak at the right time. We were always very hopeful should she get the red jacket and knew she’d take some beating if running her race.

“She’s running out of her skin at the moment and is versatile and brave when she needs to be. Swindon plays to her strengths – she won a couple of Oaks trial stakes in tough conditions before the comp – and for her at least it’s third time lucky in finals.

“She made the Bedfordshire Oaks (behind Mustang Kay Cee) final at Henlow this time last year and then made the Golden Crest final (behind King Elvis), so she’s proved really consistent and has helped give us a strong end to the year.

“It’s been relatively quiet year for us, with a few changes, but we’ve a new website up and running (kevinhuttonracing.com) which is proving popular and are doing a lot more social media. It’s important for existing owners, for attracting new owners – and good for the sport we hope.”

Kiaran O’Brien, deputy racing manager at Swindon, congratulated winning connections and said it had been a good and competitive renewal of the bitches’ Classic – which always looked likely to be the case given the original oversubscribed entry.

“Once again the Oaks was very popular with owners and trainers and we had a job actually reducing the field to 72 – Kevin (Hutton) actually had a 15-strong entry so his intentions were clear!” said O’Brien.

“In the end, we had a good mix in the final of young and old. Bull Run Byte was a worthy winner of what was not only a fantastic final but a fantastic event. The weather was horrible at the start of the evening but dried up about an hour before the big race.

“There was certainly a buzz on the terraces and a vibrant betting ring. The restaurant was full and we also raised over £1,000 for the Greyhound Trust on the night. It was great to have the RPGTV cameras here and I’m told the track came across well.

“It gave people a chance to see how well the greyhounds are running the new configured track, especially given the weather we endured.”