Last night was quite warm for the hounds in the HTA meeting at Dearham, which had the potential to catch out a few.
There was a reasonable turn out for the senior hounds with nineteen running and table leader Winterfell was sent-off favourite.
He had two good runs there, at the back end of last season with a first and a second place, and given recent form was the one to have a bet on.
Information from the road scouts indicated that by the first road crossing Winterfell had established a slight lead and he went on to extend this lead throughout the remainder of the trail coming with a two field lead to win the race easily.
When the following pack finally showed it was Glenis and Raymond Farren’s Huntsman’s Rally who came with a slight lead to hold on from the Napier families Foxparke Mysteriously and Denis Pear and Jackie Gill’s Mitredale Duchess in fourth place.
As the remaining hounds finished it was clear that a few were struggling with the warm night.
There was a good turn-out for the puppy race with 22 slipped at the start and there was clearly high expectations of the hounds from the local McMaster kennel as they were all in the box in the bookmakers ring.
When the hounds came back into sight on the finish it was as predicted with the three hounds Rodney Raider, Silver Dream and Maverick all together and had a clear lead from the rest.
It was a case of which one would win. Rodney Raider, or known as Chunk around the kennel, had gained a little ground as they cleared the last fence before coming through the gate and he went on to win nicely.
Silver Dream took second and then the much improved Maverick as they secured the first three tickets for the kennel.
A few fields behind was Glamorous Ava who finished well to take fourth place with Bill Melon’s Artist finishing in fifth place followed by the Napier’s other hound Foxparke Fair Lady.
The last race of the night was the open maidens and there was a good slip with 29 running. It appeared to be a wide open race with a number of hounds taking it in turns as favourite in the bookies ring.
As they showed it was Ron who came with a lead but he threw it away coming through the last gate. He stopped on the finish and turned back to allow Brian and Joy Lister’s Imagine to come through and grab the win.
Ron did eventually cross the line to take second place with Duncan and Amy Chisholm’s Fly Me To The Moon finishing well to take third place.
Action returns to Dearham on Thursday evening with another three-card meeting with the senior hounds slipping at 6.00pm.
HTA secretary Fiona Dixon said: “Everyone is welcome to come along and the trail field is just as you go out of Dearham towards Gilcrux. The entry is £3 which isn’t bad for an evening’s entertainment.
“There are refreshments and on field bookmaking available. You can check out the website Houndtrailingassociation.com for more information of up-coming events and background information on hound trailing.”
22nd May 2023 – Dearham
Hounds – 1. Winterfell; 2. Huntsman’s Rally; 3. Foxparke Mysteriously; 4. Miterdale Duchess; 5. Huntsman’s Quartz; 6. Foxparke Beep Beep. 19 ran, time 31.19.
Pups – 1. Rodney Raider; 2. Silver Dream; 3. Maverick; 4. Glamours Ava; 5. Artist; 6. Foxparke Fair Lady. 22 ran. time 16.40.
Open Maiden – 1. Imagine; 2. Ron; 3. Fly Me To The Moon; 4. High Crag; 5. Foxparke Who Gives A Toss; 6. Foxpake Joey Elliot. 29 ran, time 16.45.
