Craig Hutton could be forgiven for thinking that his chances of a John Butler Memorial Scratch Race victory are cursed. 

For the fifth time the Bathurst rider had to settle for a spot on the podium that wasn’t the top step, as a puncture limited him to runner-up and Mark Windsor took his second win in club’s premier A Grade trophy event on Saturday.

Both Windsor and Hutton have finished on the podium many times in the past, in fact, Hutton has now placed five times since 2009, but the National Road Series rider will have to try once again to get to the top.

The race, named after the Bathurst 19-year-old who lost his life in an accident at Mount Panorama in 1976, was the 40th edition of the popular scratch event.

Jono Cutler and Richard Hobson attacked early in the race, with Hutton, Dennis Martin, Steve Scott, Nick North and Bruce Goddard quick to chase, however it was Steve Bennett and Mark Windsor who established a significant lead before the main climb.

On the Caloola Climb it was Harry Carter who was pushing the ace and soon a group of eight riders – Carter, Steve Bennett, Mark Windsor, Richard Hobson, Hutton, Josh Stapley, Jarrod Bell and Paddy Corcoran – settled in the race lead. 

An attack by Windsor and Hutton over the top of the range saw the pair build a significant lead at the half-way turn, one that they would end up holding to the finish.

“It’s nice to be able to bag that one. It’s the one all the backmarkers at the club want to get. It’s the only major race that’s not a handicap. It’s also one that doesn’t suit me much, with the hills being earlier on and the flatter road towards the end,” Windsor said.

“It’s nice to think that I can still be up there.

“Hutto was unlucky. I battled my wits with how I was going to beat him and I knew that I was going to have to make a move before the finish. What happened to him was good luck for me and very unfortunate for him. We’d worked hard because we knew we had a very good, elite chase bunch behind us.”

Carter and last year’s winner Bell had to be taken to hospital following a crash in the late stages of the race, but both avoided any serious injury.

Windsor previously took out the race in 2000 and had been on the podium for the first time in the 1980s.

Unlike many of the other trophy events in the Bathurst club that are handicaps, the Butler is a scratch race and therefore has a very impressive winners’ list, including Bathurst’s World Champion Mark Renshaw, who won the event in 1998 and again in 199, while the inaugural winner in 1976 was Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic winner Rodney Crowe. 

The two cyclists who have dominated the race are local legend Jim Burke and European professional Dean Windsor, who have each won six Butler Memorial events each.