Born into a Cheshire farming family, Dutton graduated from Cambridge University and studied to become a solicitor before opting to pursue a career in horse racing.
His training career was suspended during World War II, when he served in the Royal Army Service Corps.
[1] After the war he resumed training, basing his stable at Grove Cottage at Malton, North Yorkshire.
He established himself as a leading trainer in the North of England, with a reputation for winning big races with inexpensively-bought horses.
[4] Dutton was also a very successful trainer of National Hunt horses, sending out the nine-year-old gelding Limber Hill to win the King George VI Chase in 1955 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1956.