What was supposed to be an awful day weather wise turned out to be a lovely afternoon for the Lorton Hound Show.
The sun shone and conditions were quite warm and humid with good running conditions for the hounds as it is usually baking hot at this particular meeting.
First up were the senior hounds with 12 runners. There was no table leader Winterfell as he would have been expecting to run at Shap on the Sunday.
Unfortunately, due to the predicted heavy rain on Saturday and through night into Sunday morning, the organisers decided to cancel the trails due to high water levels within some of the becks that the hounds would have had to cross.
Among the fancied runners at Lorton were Cautious and Strawberry Mick followed by Miterdale Duchess.
As they showed on the back fell and started to drop down it was Cautious who had quite a good lead but as the other hounds came over the top they were seen to be catching her fast.
Cautious didn’t like the drop in and slowed right down only to be passed by Foxparke Beep Beep who dropped in like a stone.
As they came through the gate on to the finish it was Foxparke Beep Beep who came with a lead to win from Cautious who finished in second place and who had made a little ground back up once in the bottoms.
The win for Foxparke Beep Beep and the Napier kennel was the first win in the senior hounds this season and the owners were highly delighted to see her coming back into form again.
Strawberry Mick finished in third place after having completed a lap of the finishing field first before crossing the line for the Reid brothers. Miterdale Dusk finished in fourth for the Steels with Miterdale Duchess in fifth place.
Next up was the open pups with 19 runners. There was no Rodney Raider who heads up the puppy championship table at the moment. Like Winterfell he may have been expecting to run at Shap on the Sunday. This left the race open for Embrace who started out as favourite.
As they dropped in there were six hounds together but it was Embrace who showed first through the gate with Sarah Jane and Glamorous Ava close behind.
Embrace who sometimes fades slightly on the finish dug deep this time and extended his lead and finished impressively to take the race for a highly delighted Andrew and Laura.
Sarah Jane hung on to second place for Nicola McMaster and Sadie Wilson followed home by James McClelland’s Glamorous Ava who was also finishing fast.
The win for Embrace takes him to joint third place in the puppy championship alongside Mel who didn’t finish in the first six.
The Open Maiden race was next with a field of fifteen runners. There was seven Foxparkes running so they were expecting to get a number of tickets in the race.
David Clifford’s Eden Romina started out as favourite at 5/2 followed by Foxparke Parma Violet and Foxparke Who Gives A Toss at 7/2.
As they showed through the gate there was a good group of hounds together but it was Foxparke Who Gives A Toss who came clear to win from kennel mate Foxparke Whoosh. This win gave the kennel a fantastic double on the day and in total eight tickets across all four races.
Thorn Bear finished in third place for Martin and Molly Burrow’s and finished well in front of Foxparke Bugga Boo.
The last race of the day was the Open Restricted with 16 runners. Miterdale Honesty was backed heavily in the bookies ring but as they showed through the gate it was kennel mate Kinniside Bobby who came with a lead to win easily.
He was followed in by Miterdale Honesty to give the Steels a one-two in the race and they were followed home closely by Hawkswood for Denis Pear and Jackie Gill.
All in all it was a much better day for hound trailing than had been expected. The weather held out and everyone had a good day.
With Shap being cancelled today the next HTA meeting is at Cold Fell on Tuesday July 29, first slip at 6pm.
July 22 – Melbreak Foxhounds Show, Lorton
- Hounds – 1. Foxparke Beep Beep; 2. Cautious; 3. Strawberry Mick; 4. Miterdale Dusk; 5. Miterdale Duchess; 6. Thorn Thunder. 12 ran, time 32.00.
- Pups – 1. Embrace; 2. Sarah Jane; 3. Glamorous Ava; 4. Foxparke Fair Lady; 5. Foxparke Dealer; 6. Money Talks. 19 ran, time 18.58.
- Open Maiden – 1. Foxparke Who Gives A Toss; 2. Foxparke Whoosh; 3. Thorn Bear; 4. Foxparke Bugga Boo; 5. Miterdale Dainty; 6. Foxparke Parma Violet. 15 ran, time 17.26.
- Open Restricted 1. Kinniside Bobby; 2. Miterdale Honesty; 3. Hawkswood; 4. Dream Catcher; 5. Malia; 6. Foxparke Shakalacka Boom Boom. 16 ran, time 18.11.
