Sunday saw an earlier than planned start for the last trail to be held at Dearham this season – the third in their recent series.
The senior hounds got things underway with a slip of 16 and the table topper Winterfell was running although nearest challenger Miterdale Duchess wasn’t.
Silver Streak, on home territory, was favourite in the bookies ring after winning easy last week while kennel mate Silver Dream was second favourite.
As they crossed at half way Winterfell was in the lead but soon dropped back with the youngster Silver Dream taking over in front.
As they showed back on the finish it was Silver Dream and Foxparke Beep Beep racing against each other.
They were neck and neck as they came through the last gate but Silver Dream, as she has done so many times this season, just moved up an extra gear and pulled away by a couple of yards to clear the line in first place.
Foxparke Beep Beep finished well in second place and there was a gap to third which was taken by Silver Streak, who was then followed home by Cracking Last One Two. She had made up considerable amount of ground up from early on in the trail when looking tailed off at the back.
Busy Again for Alan Blacklock finished well to take fifth place with Winterfell finishing in sixth place. Perhaps the long season is starting to tell a little on him.
The win for the pup Silver Dream is her first championship win in the senior hounds. The kennel of Joe Abram and Nicola McMaster will be hoping that this is a sign of how she will perform next year when she officially moves up into the seniors.
Next to the slip were the open pups with just six runners and all bar one from the same litter of Silver Dusk/Miterdale Copper with Croft Lass being the odd one out being from Jenny’s Aura/Foxparke Billy Elliot.
Rodney Raider was the odds on favourite at 4/5 on, with Artist and Embrace second favourites.
As they came back into view and worked their way back to the finish there were three hounds with a slight lead. As they jumped the last fence there wasn’t much between the trio but towards the line Rodney Raider just came away and crossed a yard or so in front of his sister and kennel mate Sarah Jane to make it a one-two for the Dearham kennel and a double win on the day.
Artist was finishing well but just couldn’t get up and had to settle for third place while in the next bunch of hounds it was Embrace that crossed the line in fourth place for Andrew and Joel Bulman, Laura Steele and Ian Rumney.
He was followed by Carol and Stanley Jackson’s Croft Lass while Paul Airey and Joanne Hodgson’s Artisan finished in sixth. The win for Rodney Raider takes him to 24 in total and now eight points in front of Embrace.
The next race was for the open non-winners, with a slip of nine runners and it was an open field with anyone of the hounds capable of winning the race.
Foxparke Dealer and Hey Mac were the bookies favourite with the majority of the punters favouring Hey Mac.
However as they came back onto the finish it was the Lindsay sisters’ Fidget that had a couple of yards as they came through the last gate and he managed to hold off a last minute challenge from Foxparke Danny Elliot to cross the line in first place much to the delight of the sisters and their enthusiastic children Janie, Emmie, Gracie, Alice and Lottie.
The Foxparke kennel did really well as they also took third and fourth place with Foxparke Dealer and Foxparke Majesty to round off a good week-end for the kennel.
Hey Mac for Neil and Gillian Brown finished in fifth place with Black Eyed Mist finishing in sixth for Nicola and John Lyon.
Fidget had been 12/1 in the bookies ring and is one of the lesser know pups from the Silver Dusk/Miterdale Copper litter, with Foxparke Dealer and Hey Mac at 6/4.
The fourth place for Foxparke Dealer was enough to take him to the top of the open non-winners points competition with only two more open non-winner trails left this season and three hounds still in contention.
The last race of the day was the open maidens with a slip of nine hounds. Samcro was the 6/4 favourite and Tania Satterthwaite was looking to improve on her hound’s performance last week when she finished third.
As they came into view it was a good race with four or five hounds in a group. Black Edition looked as though he was heading the group as they cleared the last fence but as they came through the last gate Foxparke Bugga Boo and Samcro came away.
A close finish seemed likely but Foxparke Bugga Boo pulled away to finish first followed home by Samcro in second while Black Edition for Lisa Whitfield finished well to get third.
Martin, Joanna, Molly and Teddy Burrows’ Thorn Bear was fourth followed home by Foxparke Rumour and the last ticket of the day went to Gary Woodend’s Twilight Mist.
The second place for Tania’s Samcro keeps her in second place in the open maiden points competition while the win for Foxparke Bugga Boo rounded off the kennel’s fine weekend in which they claimed fourteen tickets and two wins.
Action moves to Tuesday evening at Uldale with a look round of the course ahead of the last HTA Major Trail this year which is being hosted by the Aspatria and Wigton Area.
There will be a three card meeting with the first trail slipping at 3.00pm.
October 1 – Dearham
- Hounds – 1. Silver Dream; 2. Foxparke Beep Beep; 3. Silver Streak; 4. Cracking Last One Two; 5. Busy Again; 6. Winterfell. 16 ran, time 28.45.
- Pups – 1. Rodney Raider; 2. Sarah Jane; 3. Artist; 4. Embrace; 5. Croft Lass; 6. Artisan. 6 ran, time 15.57.
- Open Non-Winners 1. Fidget; 2. Foxparke Danny Elliot; 3. Foxparke Dealer; 4. Foxparke Majesty; 5. Hey Mac; 6. Black Eyed Mist. 9 ran, time 16.41.
- Open Maiden – 1. Foxparke Bugga Boo; 2. Samcro; 3. Black Edition; 4. Thorn Bear; 5. Foxparke Rumour; 6. Twilight Mist. 9 ran, time 16.08.
