Former Southlander Robert Dennis may have only been in Cambridge for a few months in his new role as assistant trainer to Andrew Forsman, but he is already loving life in the north.

Dennis trained in his own capacity for the last eight seasons, accruing 56 wins, two of those at stakes level.

He stepped back from training full-time last year to follow a different pursuit, but the racing bug was too strong and he has found himself back in the industry as the right-hand man to one of the leading trainers in the country.

“I stepped away from training 12-13 months ago and a I took on a job with the Southland Chamber of Commerce,” Dennis told SENZ’s The Good Oil.

“I enjoyed that but it wasn’t quite the same. As a lot of racing people know, once you are in and get the bug, it is a bit hard to get out.

“I am happy that I did it and tried something else, but I am happy to be back in the racing industry.

“I looked at doing things a bit different this time and Andrew had been training with Murray (Baker), and Murray had stepped away, and Andrew was looking for someone to help progress his team.

“With the stable opening at Macedon (Lodge) in Aussie, it opens a lot of doors for good horses and there always seems to be two or three good horses in this stable.

“It is a great opportunity for myself and it gives Andrew the benefit of having someone capable that he can rely on.”

While Dennis’ name is no longer in the race book in his current role, he is hoping that will change in the future, with a training partnership with Forsman a possibility.

“It (training partnership) was certainly spoken about before taking the job on with Andrew,” Dennis said.

“It is something that will naturally progress over the next 12 to 18 months if everything is on track.”