Saturday saw the last of the major HTA trails for the 2023 season with a five-card meeting taking place at Uldale.
The weather forecast was that the day was to improve but it started off overcast with strong winds. Anyone who has been on Uldale common will be aware that there is nowhere to hide up there so everyone was praying that it wouldn’t get any worse.
The senior hounds got things off to a good start with a slip of 18. Current championship leader Winterfell was looking to repeat Tuesday night’s win round the same course. He was evens favourite with Foxparke Beep Beep at 7/2 and Lady Million at 3/1.
Lady Million had been a close second on Tuesday while Beep Beep had been with Winterfell for most of that race but it was thought that she took a slight detour to Fellside and was the reason why she didn’t finish in the ticketing hounds.
Reports came in from half way round the trail that Winterfell was leading with Alan Blacklock’s Busy Again running alongside.
The excitement was building as the crowds waited for the hounds to come back into sight but just before they did the mist came down and reduced visibility considerably.
It was looking like it would be a case of which hound would appear first out of the gloom but again the temperamental nature of the weather saw the mist lift enough to see the hounds crossing the last road and heading towards the finish.
It was Winterfell who had a slight lead over the chasing pack and he came up the hill well to take the win. A surprise for second saw Glamorous Ava stepping up to the longer trail and running well to finish in second place.
Owner James McClelland had to work so Caroline Graham was in charge and she was really pleased with how Glamorous Ava had ran. Caroline’s advice to James was to keep working and to leave her in charge as she always seems to perform well.
Busy Again finished in third place with Foxparke Beep Beep finishing in fourth, no diversion this time round.
Huntsman’s Rebel for Denise Bland finished in fifth with Willie and Daphne Mark’s Summer Spirit taking the last ticket.
The win for Winterfell takes him to twenty three points, now eight clear of Miterdale Duchess and the win as well as being awarded the Vaux Gold Tankard just rounded off what looks like a great season for the hound and his connections.
Next to race were the senior maidens with a slip of 13 hounds. Eden Romina was the favourite at 5/2 with Best Mate 2/1 and Foxparke Whoosh 3/1.
The report from half-way was that one of the Foxparke hounds, either Bugga Boo or Mo Farren had a good lead. As the hounds came back into sight this time on the far fell it was Foxparke Whoosh who was in the lead with another two hounds running with her.
Once they crossed the last road and headed up the hill to the finish, Shine On for Christopher Henderson took up the running and came away to cross the line first but Twilight Mist for Gary Woodend ran a cracker of a race and came from third place to get second with only a neck in it between her and Shine On.
Meadow Maggie ran on well to get third place after putting her self out of the race by running wide, with David Clifford’s Eden Romina finishing in fourth. Little Foxparke Whoosh finished fifth ahead of Foxparke Bugga Boo in sixth.
Shine On had been 4/1 in the bookies ring and the win also takes him to the top of the Points table for the senior maidens with a two point advantage over Foxparke Whoosh.
Attention moved to the open puppy race to see whether the Dearham kennel of Joe Abram and Nicola McMaster could earn another win with Rodney Raider after he had run a great race to win on the Tuesday.
There would be stiff competition from the other top performing hounds including kennel mate Silver Dream, Artist, Embrace, Mel and Money Talks.
Huntsman’s Sparkle was also running and given that she has speed to burn the question would she be up to finishing this time after showing reluctance on other occasions.
Rodney Raider was the 4/5 on favourite with Embrace 7/2, Silver Dream, Artist and Mel all on 6/1.
Again, as the hound showed on the back fell., it was Huntsman’s Sparkle, Embrace and Rodney Raider but there wasn’t much in all the hounds as they were all there.
As they crossed the last road Huntsman’s Sparkle was still there and running really well, and was certainly giving the other hounds a run for their money.
However as she had done on the Tuesday about three hundred yards out she veered off to the left leaving Rodney Raider, Silver Dream and Artist to battle it out.
Rodney Raider suddenly took a tumble and went head over heels leaving the race open for Silver Dream to win. She crossed the line in first place followed by Artist and then Rodney Raider who recovered for third beaten only by a neck.
Foxparke Fair Lady had also veered off with Huntsman’s Sparkle or she may have been further up the tickets but did eventually cross behind the judge in fourth place. Les and Graham Reid’s Mel and Money Talks finished in fifth and sixth places.
Although it was still a win for the Dearham kennel it wasn’t with the favourite Rodney Raider but they were equally pleased for Silver Dream who although third in the Puppy championship table is turning out to be an equally good little bitch.
Next up were the puppy maidens with a slip of 13. Hey Mac, who is still looking for his first win, was favourite with the bookies at 2/1, Miterdale Dust was 5/2 and Fidget was 3/1.
As they showed on the back fell Hey Mac was up front along with Miterdale Dust, Spring Remedy and Green Queen.
As they crossed the last road Hey Mac was still heading the race and he came on to win nicely with Castle Callant finishing in second place for Marti Borthwick. Foxparke Danny Elliot ran a good race to finish in third place with Jenny Horn’s Spring Remedy staying on and finishing in fourth.
Jake and Zac Green took fifth with Green Queen and Sophie Steele was sixth with Miterdale Dust. Neil and Gillian Brown were over the moon with the overdue win for Hey Mac.
The final race of the day was the open restricted with the biggest slip of the day as 35 hounds took part.
It was a wide-open field with a number of pups running in this class as opposed to the open puppy or puppy maiden grade.
Ron was the 5/2 favourite with Tuesday’s winner Chapel Stile at 3/1 and Thorn Gift 5/2. As they came back in to sight, crossed the last road and climbed up the hill it was anyone’s race.
Thorn Gift had a good chance of winning but must have found the same hole that Rodney Raider had found and she went head over heels which removed any chance of her coming on to win the race.
Instead it was a rank outsider Maggie Moon who had been 20/1 in the bookies ring that came through to win for Tracey, Carolyn and Derek Hill. So the disappointment that they had with Huntsman’s Sparkle had been made up by them winning the last race.
Sportsman finished well in second place for Willie and Daphne Mark with the bookies favourite Ron finishing in third place.
The unlucky Thorn Gift who should have been given a prize for her acrobats finished in fourth place with Thorn Pop for Colin Satterthwaite taking fifth and the last ticket of the day going to Foxparke Honk Honk.
On the whole everyone had a good day with 92 hounds competing over the five races. The weather didn’t improve but it didn’t get any worse and the day concluded with everyone being able to go home dry.
October 7 – HTA Trails Uldale
- Hounds – 1. Winterfell; 2. Glamorous Ava; 3. Busy Again; 4. Foxparke Beep Beep; 5. Huntsman’s Rebel; 6. Summer Spirit. 18 ran, time 27.46.
- Maidens – 1. Shine On; 2. Twilight Mist; 3. Meadow Maggie; 4. Eden Romina; 5. Foxparke Whoosh; 6. Foxparke Bugaboo. 13 ran, time 31:06.
- Pups – 1. Silver Dream; 2. Artist; 3. Rodney Raider; 4. Foxparke Fair Lady; 5. Mel; 6. Money Talks. 13 ran, time 19:23.
- Puppy Maidens – 1. Hey Mac; 2. Castle Callant; 3. Foxparke Danny Elliot; 4. Spring Remedy; 5. Green Queen; 6. Miterdale Dust. 13 ran, time 21:04.
- Open Restricted – 1. Maggie Moon; 2. Sportsman; 3. Ron; 4. Thorn Gift; 5. Thorn Pop; 6. Foxparke Honk Honk. 35 ran, time 19:43.
