Rain-soaked Helton on Sunday turned-out to be one of the wettest days so far this year for hound trailing.
Being run on the tops there was no shelter and the rain just kept coming in, wave after wave of heavy showers and wind making hound trailing difficult and unpleasant.
The senior hounds got things under way with seventeen runners and Huntsman’s Rebel went off as favourite after her impressive win at Latrigg.
Championship leader Winterfell was running but seems to have gone off the boil at the moment and hasn’t really performed since running at the first Potters Park trail back at the start of the month.
As they showed on the tops before dropping down Huntsman’s Rebel had a slight lead from the chasing bunch and as she climbed back up towards the finish she was well clear of her nearest rival which was Huntsman’s Quantum followed home by Summer Spirit.
Huntsman’s Rebel had knocked a minute off the previous time over the course even though the weather conditions were horrendous for the senior trail.
The win takes her tally to four wins so she is gradually moving up the championship table as she comes back into good form. Winterfell finished a long way back, perhaps not liking the harsh weather conditions.
Next up were the senior maidens with twelve runners and the weather had improved slightly with everyone dodging the heavy showers that just kept rolling in over the top of the fell.
It was an exciting finish with the majority of the hounds coming on the finish together.
As they crossed the line there were four hounds together but it was Neil and Gillian Brown, Derek and Joel Bulman’s Dundee who got the verdict to take the win.
It was close for second place with Carol and Stanley Jackson’s Clementine coming in ahead of Eden Romina for David Clifford and Shine On for Christopher Henderson with only a matter of a length separating all four.
The Open Pups were next with a good field of hounds that had opted to run at Helton rather than Redmain the day before.
Rodney Raider set off as favourite with Mel and Embrace also at a short price on the bookies board.
As the hounds showed on the top before they dropped down Rodney Raider and Embrace were together before they made the descent into the bottoms.
Embrace was the first one out, gaining ten yards on Rodney Raider which he maintained as he climbed up to the finish and won nicely.
Rodney Raider, on the up-hill climb, couldn’t make any ground on his brother who has definitely come back to the form he was showing early on in the season. The win for Embrace, owned by Andrew and Joel Bulman, Laura Steele and Ian Rumney, takes him to seven in the Championship.
The last race of the day was for the Open Restricted hounds with weather conditions not improving. It was Alan Blacklock’s Busy Again who came with a lead to take the win from Ron, owned by Ryan and Tom Bell, followed in by Maverick for Joseph Abram and Sadie Wilson.
Action moves back to Cold Fell on Wednesday with the first trail slipping at 6.00pm.
July 16, HELTON
Hounds – 1. Huntsman’s Rebel; 2. Huntsman’s Quantum; 3. Summer Spirit; 4. Huntsman’s Que; 5. Foxparke Beep Beep; 6. Cautious. 17 ran, time 30.53.
Maidens – 1. Dundee; 2. Clementine; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Shine On; 5. Meadow Maggie; 6. Eagle Love. 12 ran, time 31.54.
Pups – 1. Embrace; 2. Rodney Raider; 3. Mel; 4. Artist; 5. Sarah Jane; 6. Artisan. 20 ran, time 18.17.
Open Restricted – 1. Busy Again; 2. Ron; 3. Maverick; 4. Overwater Hunter; 5. Milo Moon; 6. Missriff. 31 ran, time 18.33.
