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For some years now I have been writing reports on the trials I attend. Not all of them but the majority. The main aim is to give a bit of publicity to the successful dogs and handlers.
I'll give you the recent ones in full as they come off the press but this is a link to a page on my blog and you can look back at the old ones should you see fit.
Trial Reports | Glencuan Pointers
The Donegal Field Trial Association held an Open Stake for Any Variety Setter and Pointers on the moors near Scotstown on Friday 16th August 2013. The trial was run under Irish Kennel Club Field Trial Rules and Regulations and the judges were Paddy Peoples and Andy Law.
Technically it rained most of the morning. Anybody with a coat on would hardly have noticed it but those like me, folically challenged, would have been aware of the almost constant spots of rain. By the afternoon it was a beautiful bright day. The breeze was constant in both direction and strength.
Results :-
1st F.T.Ch. Creg Rena Joan McGillycuddy’s Red Setter bitch. Graded Excellent.
2nd Ballyellan Cara Bill Connolly’s English Setter bitch. Graded Excellent.(Handler Gerald Devine)
3rd Mountbay Dan Fr. Seamus O’Neill’s Red Setter dog. Graded Very Good.
Basso was first up. He was running against Mark Adams Irish setter and the setter just about shaded it as he didn’t stop for water whereas Basso did. That said both dogs gave it a real good go. Basso lines were marginally the neater but both dogs quartered with pace and style.
His next round was even better against Joe Dobbins English setter. Both dogs ran at great pace but this time Basso’s lines were demonstrably better than the other dog’s. The setter did have a point on a lark and Basso backed, an Irish back in that he came alongside but didn’t pass, just, the other dog. I got the impression that one judge was reasonably happy with this while the other wasn’t but I wasn’t called to run with the bye dog.
Alex started off well in good ground but seemed to lose interest. In Basso’s run he had come off a low ridge at pace to land about ten feet away. Alex, faced with a slightly lower ridge had to more or less stop and walk down it. Later on I see he is lame. I didn’t expect and didn’t get another run. Even if he appears sound tomorrow I will rest him up as he is in the reserves on Sunday. I’ll run Van in his place tomorrow.
I took Buck with me in the afternoon and he got a fair bit of off lead running, teckel style. He was very tired when I got home having been on the hill two days in a row. Just what he needed.
This was an Irish trial run under the Irish Ethos as much as Field Trial Regulations. Toe polishers need not apply. If I remember correctly, Alex excepted, all the dogs ran and even he was ok for a while. It’s one thing to have dogs that can run but as is almost always the case some ran to greater effect than others. I really enjoyed Basso’s first run with Mark Adam’s setter. As is also almost always the case a greater supply of birds would have been nice as there were dogs deserving of a find but those that featured in the awards did work in proportion to their grading.
To give you an idea of the ground covered the pedometer of one of the judge read either 10.1 or 10.6 miles at the end of the day. A half a mile only means where you would expect to collapse changes. If you were out running in the first eight brace and made the second round you would have walked almost the same distance, as I did.
I really enjoyed the day and would have loved a crack at a bird but that’s Irish field trialling.
The Northern Ireland Pointer Club held an Open Stake for Any variety Setter & Pointers under Kennel Club Rules and Field Trial Regulations. The venue was The Brunt Beat at Glenwherry with the kind permission of The Irish Conservation Project and the local landowners. The Judges were Carol Calvert and John Murray.
The breeze peaked at 12.7 mph, it was raining at the start but by the end it was a perfect sunny afternoon and a representative temperature would be 13º.
Results:-
1st Gortinreagh Dixie Gerald Devine’s English Setter dog.
2nd Koram Kaiser James Coyle’s Pointer dog.
3rd Glendrisock Brita Dr. Stephen Clarke’s Red Setter bitch.
4th Oksby Basso Des O’Neile’s Pointer dog.
Van.
His run was in two parts. He was with me the first time I let him off and he made several relatively, for him, flat cuts before our brace mate chased a hare. Did I actually see Van ignore a hare or did he just not see it. He certainly could have smelt it. Anyway he was relatively easily picked up.
His second run was where it all went wrong and not helped by circumstances. ( Yes these are excuses!) The cover was in sort of parallel blocks that were just too deep. Van ran the gaps and this all contributed to the bite being too big. I didn’t expect another run but he pleased me none the less.
Basso.
His first round was as good as it gets. At least one person said that it was maybe the best they had ever seen any of my dogs run. (They maybe never saw Jump or Judy on The Liffey Head or Bold on Trantlemore.) It wasn’t The Best Ever but it was up there. It is one thing to get an almost ideal set up but it is another to make use of it. This was a rectangular bit of ground with a fence to the right and a road on the left. I’m not good at distances. Maybe two hundred and fifty yards wide and with the wind blowing right down the middle. ALL Basso had to do was bounce off the fence and the road like a pinball. ALL! I thought he did it really well. He was running against Craigrua Kansas, what had been my Red and white setter. They both were up for it and I thought that Basso was just that bit neater and shaded it.
His second round was just coming off the top of The Brunt. He was running nicely again and heading right he pointed. I worked him forward but could produce nothing. We were cast on again and on more or less the same line, but a bit further forward, he pointed again. That’s the way I remember it. ( Somebody said today they thought he had two non productives! If he did I can’t remember the second one but then I am 62 y/o) A single cock was produced and he was steady to the shot.
There were four dogs still standing with game at the end of the trial. It is fair to say that one, two or three would have been a meaningful result as it would have left Basso qualified for Open Stakes next year in England and I suppose I would have broken your arm for any sort of place before the event but fourth is the one place I didn’t see myself in.
This is without a doubt the premier grouse trial ground in Ireland. We had everything just right once the weather relented. It was also very good the way we came upon grouse in better numbers towards the end as it meant the dogs that had run the best got the opportunities. Good quality dogs in a well organised and well judged event. What more could you want?
Thank you for the report and great to see my young bitches breeder Gerald Devine with his dog being placed 1st !!
The Irish Pointer Club held an Open Confined Stake for Pointers under Irish Kennel Club rules and regulations on the East Liffey Head ground in The Wicklow Mountains on Sunday 18th August 2013. Judges for the day were Ned Flannelly and Anthony Mulhall. There was a steady breeze from more or less the West and while it threatened rain most of the morning other than a heavy shower around 11:00 that was all it came to and by the afternoon it was bright and sunny.
A sign of the times I suppose but there were only seventeen dogs on the card.
Result:-
1st Oksby Basso Des O’Neile’s Pointer dog. Imp. Denmark. By Toften’s Chris x Oksby Blanka. Bred by Liz Skov. Graded Excellent.
Alex.
Bit of a disappointment. He sort of ran when his turn came. Alex is the sort of dog you want to leave alone so he can get on with it. Our brace mate was a relatively inexperienced dog and she ran on him a couple of times and that was it. He didn’t really want to compete, he quartered behind me and never really got going. He got another run later on “for the beer money” and in fact ran much better and even more strangely he nearly ran better in the heavier ground. Strange dog! Who knows exactly what is in that huge space between Alex’s ears. He’s an easy dog to work with but complex in another ways.
Basso.
Yeh Basso!
I was running with my fifth decade apprentice Jimmy Dalton. We had an uneven beat in that it was maybe fifty yards to the left and as far as you want to the right. Add in a cheek wind just for fun. Both dogs were shaping up quite nicely, working the wind rather than the ground. The reason we were short on the left was a long cutting, maybe twenty feet deep and as wide. Jimmy nor I wanted to attempt it and the dogs didn’t fancy it either but eventually Jimmy’s dog spotted a jumpable spot and that was it. Gone! Not coming back either, well not in time any way. Luckily Basso was looking the other way at the time so we were safe and asked to wait around.
I was called in to run with another dog later on. What faced us was some nice flat ground but then another cutting, this time across the beat. This one was only maybe five feet deep in places. The sides were more or less vertical but in places you could walk down a nice soft slope. It took maybe three good cuts to get us to the cutting. Both dogs hell for leather. Basso the flatter and wider. The cast before the cutting Basso went left. Way left. Coming back from this cut he had gone maybe fifty yards right when he headed toward the cutting and pointed in the longer heather round the cutting, but not actually in it. I was watching Basso. Exactly what the other dog did I can’t really say but I claimed. I asked Basso to work down into the cutting and he stopped. Asking him to move again he started to relocate to the right. The judge then dropped a bomb shell. “Either produce another bird or work back to the covey.” What covey? Nine birds, which I hadn’t seen had been produced by Basso. He didn’t produce another bird but, thankfully, he went left and right to the spot where the covey had flushed and cleared his ground. (Always trust your dog!)
The second round was another good gallop in slightly longer heather. Just where you could have expected more birds but none were home.
I never doubted Basso’s capabilities for a minute but whether we were ever going to get his account opened was another thing. For those who believe in Sod’s Law, that he got his first two awards less than twenty four hours apart should be no surprise.
“Win at all costs” has never been a motto of mine. I have always wanted to do it my way and this was my way. A flat quartering dog going like the clappers, wide like the clappers, and taking his birds with relative ease. He got his birds only because he did the ground work right and it was nice that in his summing up Ned mentioned that Basso did both sides right from the get go.
That’s three days competition in a row and both man and dog were very tired. We reckon we walked over ten miles on Friday alone and Basso had at least two runs in each of the three events. I had to drink three cans of Red Bull to get home in one piece and Basso was also very tired. I put a Tuffie on the passenger seat and he slept the hundred and a half miles home virtually never lifting his head, even when we arrived. I did my best to have him ready and he repaid me in full. Well done Wee Man!
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...ps00a41f12.jpg
Great result for Basso, Des. Great reading...you'll need a bucket of Silvo to keep those trophies gleaming!!!
How's she doing El b? Have you run her much this season?Quote:
Originally Posted by el borracho
every weekend -its a bummer the light disappears so early in winter otherwise i would be going something everyday
Pointer and Setter dog trials this weekend in Ngaruawahia near Auckland if anyone would like to attend to see what its all about or meet other dog handlers .I am running my new pup for the first time -not expecting to much as she hasnt had pigeons before -at least there is no retrieve in novice as she hasn't done a thing in that area . I better get onto it or even better should send her to send her to Ruff to sort it lol
The reward is more satisfying when you've done the work El B? isn't it?
yes it reminds me of a Frank Sinatra number or was that Sid Vicious "I did it my wayyyyyyyyyy"always more pleasing . I hope they clap me like the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDyb_alTkMQ
Didn't realise you are that rich! :wtfsmilie:Quote:
Originally Posted by el borracho
god im dyslexic
and im in winning form -was meant to be at the trial today but thought it was only a Sunday trial ....what a winner eh
FFS Brian , how long have the brace trials run for and you now forget they are held over 2 days.
Not sure about the first run today, but Robyn was 1st and 2nd on the second run this afternoon.
The Ulster Irish Red Setter Club – Open – Pointer & Setter- Sunday 15th September 2013
The Ulster Irish Red Setter Club held an Open Stake for Pointers & Setters on Murley Mountain at Fivemiletown as the guests of the Hamilton- Stubber family on Sunday 15th September 2013. The trial was run under Kennel Club Field Trial rules and regulations and the judges for the day were Steve Robinson and Carol Calvert.
The outstanding feature of the day was the weather. We were in the throws of our first autumn storm and I took a wind speed reading of 37 mph in the afternoon and on the way down the M1 some hours earlier I saw a grey squirrel blown bodily across the road. The morning saw frequent and heavy showers but these dwindled over the day and although the wind gusts didn’t fall much below 20 mph we were in bright sunshine by the late afternoon. There was a vote of the competitors so see if the trial should go ahead and obviously the majority decision was to proceed.
Result :-
1st F.T.Ch. Ballyellan Cara Bill Connolly’s English Setter bitch handled by Gerald Devine.
Alex.
Things conspired against Alex. He is so responsive to other peoples’ whistles that it can curtail his performance. Our opponent today isn’t a noisy handler but it was enough in the circumstances to make him look poor. The more I think about it England in July with plenty of grouse is Alex’s forte.
Basso.
What to say? Trialling is 85% ground work and 15% bird work. Basso was good for 95% of the time but in trials anything less than 100% doesn’t usually cut the mustard.
His first round was top drawer. We had a slight cheek wind from the right with the ground running at a fairly steep angle from left to right but also slightly from forward to behind if you catch my drift. This meant to do the wind correctly Basso would be slightly forward and up the hill on the left and back and down hill on the right, and that’s exactly what he did. The right side was terminated by a deep gully maybe two hundred yards away and the skyline might have been a hundred and fifty on the left. He did his ground extremely nicely and at good pace. He took direction when needed and that was only the once. I reckoned that any grouse on the left, exposed to the full force of the wind, would be the village idiot. I liked the right side away down in the relative shelter by the gully and towards the end I turned him in the middle once and sent him back down to a likely looking spot.
The second round was in heavier ground but we started off doing the ground right. There were birds about and I wanted to get as many cuts in before we were over the top. Again only the village idiot would have been on the windy side of the hill. Ha! Double Ha!
Basso was going fairly well for a second round in heavy ground but then all of a sudden he was running twice as fast. We had hit The Duck Pond Lane and ultimately it was our undoing. The lane ran across our beat. Basso isn’t lazy and he isn’t stupid either so he took a spin up the lane on the right. By the time he was back level with me on the lane he was behind me so I called him off the lane to run in front of me. With hind sight maybe I should have let him go on out along the lane to the left but I was worried that he would just come back along the lane and judges don’t like dogs behind handlers. So he ran past me maybe twenty yards into the wind before going left at right angles to the wind. Our fate was sealed as we were now over the brow of the hill and The Village Idiot was lurking in the heather, now down wind of Basso. It looked really strange to me when Basso turned back to try and locate him and ran maybe ten yards down wind, you guessed it, over the top of the idiot grouse.
So there’s the stats and all. Lets keep it simple. He probably made fifty casts over the day in total, like they were drawn with parallel rulers and his last cast is flawed. As I said 98% doesn’t cut the mustard, but that said he did me proud.
I didn’t vote for the trial to go ahead and I feel there is little doubt that had we got a better day for a rerun there would have been a better result but that said the event is now over and judges etc. don’t have to turn out again later in the year.
With the exception of Alex all the other dogs ran, some harder and some more effectively than others, but they all gave it a go. Bird work was always going to be difficult but it was no surprise that the winner’s find was in the lee of a small bank of peat. Any bird in the open ground had ample opportunity to get off side.
Neat report, Des.
The Northern Ireland Pointer Club – Open – Pointer – Friday 27th September 2013
The Northern Ireland Pointer Club held it’s annual breed stake on The Crieve beat of Glenwherry Moor on Friday 27th September 2013. The trial licensed by and run under the Field Trial Rules and Regulations of The Kennel Club was judged by Ned Butler and Davy O’Neill. The steward of the beat was Conor Kelly the Irish Grouse Conservation Project’s keeper.
The temperature was around 15ºc and although the visibility improved from time to time you could say it was misty the whole day.
We had high hopes for this annual event and were even hopeful of a puppy stake but the fates intervened. Richard MacNicol, who had been involved in a road traffic accident in July drove all the way down to his friend Jon Kean’s but in the morning when he stooped to move an empty planter his back gave out. Shaun McCormack’s wife was taken ill and Michael Houston had to withdraw due to a sudden work commitment. I’m not sure how many dog this affected but the Puppy Stake was scuppered and we had the bare minimum, sixteen, for the Open Pointer Stake.
Result : -
1st Koram Kaiser James Coyle’s Pointer dog. Born Christmas Day 2009 by F.T.Ch.Fearn Mate of Burncastle X Fernhill Diamond of Koram. ( Subject to Kennel Club ratification Kaiser is now a F.T.Ch.)
Chris.
The fog was at it’s worst and we were first brace. I cast him off and let him run a bit but the first time he looked at me I blew the whistle and raised my hand. The thought of chasing him over miles of heather in the fog did not appeal. I picked him up.
Basso.
A big disappointment. Never got going. The third time he pointed and failed to produce I withdrew him.
Van.
Ran hard enough but the lines weren’t good and he didn’t get another run.
Alex.
I honestly can’t remember why our original brace mate was picked up but it was very much in our favour as the big dog hadn’t really got going but when Jimmy Dalton was put against us he did much better. We were in better ground, which makes it slightly easier to run, shots had been fired, birds flushed and he was much more up for the job. He did dwell on scent a bit at times but by the end of the run, which culminated in a joint find, very close, on a hare, which neither dog chased, he was going quite nicely.
In his second round run, against the same dog he was again running quite hard and wide. I was able to engineer a back when our brace mate failed to produce the hen of a supposed pair. We were run on and he knocked up a snipe, which was ok in the context of this stake but was disappointing when you consider he is a dog that competes regularly in Ireland. Then he came on point BUT couldn’t produce what was obviously grouse. ( that we walked them up walking back to the cars was no surprise but still very disappointing)
Sophie.
Seemed to run a blinder. She was a bit left sided for a time but boy did she cover her ground flat out. She is a competitive bitch ( I don’t mean female dog here) and put all her aggression into her run but didn’t get a second run which surprised Roy slightly.
Uno.
His first event at thirteen months old and it showed. Overawed by the whole thing he never really got going but you have to start somewhere. He was picked up when it became obvious his sole desire was to trail the other dog. Roy’s efforts to stop him trailing meant he sort of threw the towel in.
There have been years when we were concerned that we wouldn’t have enough dogs for our breed stake. This year, up until the preceding Wednesday we were happy and then it all nearly fell apart. All the competitors are club members but we are still eternally grateful for the support of the members who travel from far afield to make this weekend a success and of course well done James Coyle. Another Champion.
thanks for the report Des and I hear your about your concerns about having enough dogs -16- to put a trial on with your breed .16 of any pointing dog here together would be a huge turn out ......
Any more than 16 and we would be running short of trialing grounds....Quote:
Originally Posted by el borracho
Des are you seeing younger or for that matter older people joining you ranks or are you seeing a declining role in general with the pointer setter crowd
thats a good point but then we would probably shorten the time to run also -trouble is we unlike the English don't have the birds .Pigeon trials would be ok with bigger numbers .The truth is we need those numbers to survive as our members either get to old or retire themselves and dogs .Quote:
Originally Posted by Petros_mk
Its upto young guys like you Petros to lead the charge
Our group of competitors is shrinking, and quite quickly too. There has only been one new competitor over the last couple of years. I would say the average age is 45 +.
To run a puppy trial we must have a minimum of 8 dogs, an all aged or novice trial 12 and a open 16. If you are running two stakes on a day and neither is an open the maximum number of runner is 45. If there are two events and one of them is an open or you are only running an open the maximum is 40. I don't know what the minimums are under Irish K.C. rules but the maximum is 30. A much better figure in my opinion.
The Northern Ireland Pointer Club – Open – Pointer & Setter – 28th September 2013
The Northern Ireland Pointer Club held an Open Stake for Pointers and Setters on Craig’s Moss Glarryford with the permission of The Glarryford Gun Club and local land owners. Conducted under Kennel Club Field Trial Rules and Regulations the judges for the day were Dominic Goutorb from Derbyshire and local lad Robert Simpson. David O’Neill was the steward of the beat. The main quarry expected was pheasant but snipe were also likely and maybe even woodcock. (Patricia Wood won this trial one year with points on pheasant, woodcock and partridge.)
The day was bright and sunny but prevented from being warm due to a wind steady in both direction and strength. Nearly a perfect day for the job.
Result :-
1st F.T.Ch. Ballyellen Cara Bill Connolloy’s English Setter bitch handled by Gerald Devine.
2nd F.T.Ch. Ardclynis Caitlin Laurence McAlister’s Pointer bitch.
I think most people had these two at the top but maybe a few had them reversed.
Alex.
Ran well enough to please me. Covered sufficient ground at a reasonable pace and ended up with a tricky find in ground our brace mate had done. A hen bird in a patch of heather no bigger than half your table top and sitting there bobbing it’s head up and down. Dropped to shot and cleared his ground.
Basso.
Got a heavy bit of ground but stuck manfully to his task and ran good lines. He even tackled the heavy ground just off the edge while our opponent bored up the beat.
Sophie.
Messy as the other dog was very slow in roading on it’s two false points and then to add insult to injury Roy fell into one of the wee narrow drains.
None of these dogs got another run and before you ask, I don’t know.
A well organised event, well stewarded and run in good sport. All the dogs ran well and were obviously hunting. A nice day to be out with the dogs.
Gerald is definitely the man to beat just now. This might take his open stake wins into double figures for the year, if he isn’t already there.
The Ulster Gundog League – Open – Pointer and Setter – Sunday 29th September 2013
The Ulster Gundog League held an Open Stake for Pointers and Setters on The Point Beat of The Hill Farm at Glenwherry on Sunday 29th September 2013 working with the permission of The Hill farm and local land owners. Run under Kennel Club Field Trial Rules and Regulations the judges for the day were Dominic Goutorb from Derbyshire and Laurence McAlister (Joke – Well known pointer man Liam McAllister!!!!!!!). The steward of the beat was Ned Butler.
Result :-
1st Int. F.T.Ch. Glynlark Apollo Carol Calvert’s Irish Champion Stake winning Irish Setter dog and just about my favourite red at the moment.
SW 6.4 mph < ?? Bright and sunny the whole day. 13ºc (Maybe felt slightly colder in the morning)
Alex.
In so much that there were a couple of small fenced off enclosures on his beat an awkward bit of ground but exactly where I would have wanted him to run otherwise. Beautiful smooth running. Handled well and covered his ground at pace ( if he wouldn’t run here he wouldn’t run anywhere) Progressed well until out brace mate failed to handle a bird.
Again his second round was were I would have picked if offered a choice. He was running with a bit of drive but not as even sided as I would have liked. The minute he dropped his nose on a scent we were picked up which was fair enough. This was a second round.
Basso.
Shaped up to run good lines at pace. Ignored a hare, or did he just not see it?. Pointed. Couldn’t produce. Cast off again, pointed again. Roaded to where birds had flushed, probably the birds he couldn’t produce the first time (judges words not mine). We were allowed to finish off the ground but he didn’t get another run.
Sophie.
Didn’t see her run but she only got the one.
Lots of people were making lots of excuses for why their, or others people’s, dogs couldn’t handle birds. There is this urban myth that here in Northern Ireland dogs couldn’t smell frying bacon if the wind is from the North East. If there is any truth in this it is more to do with the fact that a Nor’ easterly may well have blown all the way from The Urals and be exceeding cold. On this day the breeze was from the south so it’s accuracy didn’t matter.
There was no doubt that dogs that I would be prepared to bet my pension on did bump birds but that just gave the winner the opportunity to show why he won the Irish Championship and why he’s an International Field Trial Champion.
Ulster Gundog League – Open – Pointer and Setter – Saturday 12th October 2013.
Ned Butler, the Pointer & Setter Section Secretary of The Ulster Gundog League organised an Open Stake for Pointers and Setters at Craig’s Moss, Glarryford with the permission and assistance of The Glarryford Gun Club and the local land owners. For the first time in a while we had not one but two A panel judges officiating in Charlie Neeson from Sion Mills and my long time friend from Huddersfield Shaun McCormack. The Licence was issued by The Kennel Club whose Field Trial Rules and Regulations the event was run under.
9ºc. Steady breeze. Bright but not sunny. Feeling cool at times.
Result :-
1st Shanrycon Eagle of Oisin Andy Law’s Irish Setter dog.
2nd. Oksby Basso Des O’Neile’s Pointer dog.
Alex.
Roy and I poke fun at each other, or maybe more correctly I poke fun at him for wearing his rose-coloured glasses when talking about Sophie and Uno. I don’t think I do the same thing when talking about Alex but if that’s correct then I’m really confused. Alex ran out of his skin. He ran flat and hard. When needed he handled easily. He backed when our brace mate had a find and it was easy to keep him steady. This was at least his best ever competition run and maybe his best under any circumstances but he still didn’t get another run. Add that to what happened the last time we were at Glarryford and I’m, to say the least, confused.com.
Basso.
He was in the first brace. Drawn on the right he went right, not a full out run but he didn’t get much past the centre of the beat on his way left when he pointed. The bird was on the far windward edge of a clump of higher heather not much bigger than a tablecloth. I made a point of walking through the clump when we went in to road. Basso was reluctant to move but when he took his first step the bird flushed and he was steady to wing and shot. Put down again our brace mate had a find on the extreme left of the beat but couldn’t put the running bird into the air so we were picked up.
We were on the far side of the Moss, over by the causeway, for the second round. Beautiful running ground with quite a few small drains running across it. These don’t seem to affect the dogs. The same can’t be said for handlers, and judges. That we were cast off down wind of where one of the previous brace had flushed a snipe probably affected his performance has he had two non-productives, one of which was the snipe haunt but it probably didn’t affect the result. He ran nice and flat, had good pace and more to the point it was so obvious that he was hunting. He probably ran as wide as he has all season, even wider than in Dublin but he still managed to turn more or less on the first peep. For his work over the two rounds we were given second place.
Offered the position I now find myself in i.e. qualified for Open Stakes and The Champion Stake this morning I suppose I would have broken your arm clean off but what happened to Alex did take a bit of the shine off it.
It being my 37th Wedding Anniversary Shaun, Her and me repaired to The Golden Elephant for a few bottles of Singha and crispy duck. Coconut rice of course.
Des, was Hugh Bradly running his dogs in the trials above?
Hugh's mum was in hospital recently and between that and being the secretary of a club that had an event in Connaught he hasn't been up to every event.