Tuesday saw the final HTA fixture for 2023 with a five-card meeting taking place at Millstone Moor.
Compared to past years the weather was very favourable to end what has been an exciting year with the merger of the Border Association and the HTA at the start of the year.
Action got underway with the senior hounds and 12 runners. Lady Million and Silver Streak were the top two hounds in the bookies ring following the last outing around the course when Silver Streak had just got the better of Lady Million coming up the finish. Could Lady Million get revenge and turn the tables?
It was a good race as they showed in the bottoms and made their way back up the long incline to the finish. Two hounds had a slight advantage as they cleared the last gate. Lady Million didn’t make the same mistake as she did the previous time which cost her a few yards and the race.
As they ran towards the finishing line Lady Million had two or three lengths on Silver Streak in second place but the line couldn’t come soon enough as Silver Streak just kept coming and got in front of Lady Million by half a dogs length and crossed the line first.
It was a cracking finish between the two hounds to round off the last senior race of the season for the hugely successful Dearham kennel of Joe Abram and Nicola McMaster.
Busy Again ran on well to finish in third place for Alan Blacklock with Barncroft Express finishing in fourth place for Alan O’Fee. Cracking Last One Two for Bill Mellon and co was close behind to finish fifth with Paul Airey and Joanne Hodgson’s Meadow Maggie finishing in sixth just half a length behind.
Next to the slip were the senior maidens with a field of eight runners but Eden Romina had already secured the senior maiden and open maiden points competition. She was running and was favourite in the bookies ring.
Foxparke Bugga Boo was also top of the bookies board. Again as the hounds showed in the bottoms there were two hounds with a slight lead but it was Tania Satterthwaite’s Samcro who was leading with Eden Romina in second place.
Samcro crossed the line in first place but Eden Romina just tired before the line to let the third hound pass her which was Foxparke Bugga Boo. Foxparke Danny Elliot finished well in fourth place with Twilight Mist for Gary Woodend finishing in fifth and Black Edition who ran another great race, taking sixth for Lisa and Hollie Whitefield.
The Open Pups were next to race with a small field of just five hounds. Silver Dream was favourite and similar to the senior hounds it would be a case of whether Artist could get the better of her on the finish. Artist just couldn’t do it last time round.
As they climbed up the hill it looked like Artist was going to take the win as she had two or three yards lead on Silver Dream but four or five yards out you could see that Silver Dream was moving in to another gear and she came past Artist to grab the victory.
What a finish. Both hounds ran a really good race to round off the season. The win for Silver Dream making it a double on the day for the Dearham kennel to round off a fantastic year.
The Puppy Maiden race was next with just two runners. Both hounds set off with gusto but unfortunately they were unable to complete the course and returned to the field.
With no points been allocated in the last two puppy maiden trails it resulted in a clear win for Sophie Steele with Miterdale Dust and a three-way tie for the runner up place with Thorn Bear for Joanna, Martin, Molly and Teddy Burrows, Spring Remedy for Jenny Horn and Castle Callant for Marti Borthwick, Mary Irving, J Fawkes and Amy Brookes. Well done to all.
The last race of the day was the Veteran race with eight runners and the table topper Forlorn Spring was the obvious favourite to win the race.
As they came on to the finish he had a nice lead and crossed the line in front of Andy Horn’s Showbiz in second place. Nicola and John Lyon’s Black Eyed Mist finished in third place with Robyn, Ellie and Brooke (who was absent and didn’t see her beloved Henry run) finish in fourth place.
Denis Pear and Jackie Gill’s Hawskwood finished well in fifth and Gary Woodend’s Overwater Gemini took sixth place.
Congratulations go to all the winners and runners up in the Championship and the Points Competition.
Winterfell, who won the senior Championship for Barry Laidler and Caroline Clough, and who was trained by Tom Bell and family, had a brilliant season and fulfilled Barry’s ambition to win the Championship title after being in the sport for over 75 years. So well done to Barry for sticking with it.
The Dearham kennel of the McMasters and their connections were also outstanding not only taking the Open Puppy title with Rodney Raider but also taking the runner up position with Silver Dream.
They too had a brilliant season and also bagged a number of the major trail titled to boot.
In addition to their success with the hounds they owned they also bred one of the most successful litters in recent times out of Silver Dusk and Miterdale Copper.
David Clifford’s hound Eden Romina performed consistently throughout the season to not only take the Senior Maiden points competition but the Open Maiden Points competition proving her ability over the longer distance and the shorter distance throughout the season.
The Foxparke kennel did exceptionally well with getting runner up place in the Senior maidens with Foxparke Who Gives A Toss and also winning the Open Non-Winner’s Points competition with Foxparke Dealer.
However they may remember 2023 for how well they did at the local shows as they did a clean sweep with many of them and may well need a new board to put all their rosettes on.
Tania Satterthwaite’s Samcro, although he didn’t seem to run that often when he did he was among the tickets and did enough to claim the runners up position in the Open Maiden’s points competition so well done to Tania.
The Dearham kennel may have thought that their hound Maverick had done enough early on in the season to take home the Open Restricted title as he developed an extensive lead early on before being eliminated from the competition but challenger Thon Pop owned by Colin Satterthwaite just kept calm and persevered and eventually accumulated enough points to overtake Maverick in the last month of the season.
The Puppy Maiden points competition was slow to get going with not many puppy maiden races at the start of the season but it became a nail biter towards the end with four or five dogs still in with a chance as they came in to the last month.
Sophie Steele’s hound Miterdale Dust did enough to build up a slight lead and it would be touch and go as to whether any of the chasing hound could get enough points.
In the end she hung on to take the title with a three-way tie for second place between Thorn Bear for the Burrow’s, Castle Callant for Marthi Borthwick and co and Jenny Horn with Spring Remedy.
The 2023 season saw a good number of Veteran’s running and it proved a competitive competition with the main two rivals Forlorn Spring and Huntsman’s Major.
It meant a fair few trips to pastures new for Forlorn Spring but to give him his due he performed well at venues that he had never run at before. He did enough to keep in front of the old boy Huntsman’s Major who also ran well but had to settle for the runners up place.
Let’s hope next season is as competitive and as exciting as 2023.
October 31 – Millstone Moor
- Hounds – 1. Silver Streak; 2. Lady Million; 3. Busy Again; 4. Barncroft Express; 5. Cracking Last One Two; 6. Meadow Maggie. 12 ran, time 25.36.
- Maidens – 1. Samcro’ 2. Foxparke Bugga Boo; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Foxparke Danny Elliot; 5. Twilight Mist; 6. Black Edition. 8 ran, time 27.32.
- Pups – 1. Silver Dream; 2. Artist; 3. Foxparke Side Kick; 4. Foxparke Fair Lady; 5. Money Talks. 5 ran, time 16.40.
- Puppy Maiden – 2 ran, neither finished
- Veterans – 1. Forlorn Spring; 2. Showbiz; 3. Black Eyed Mist; 4. Foxparke Jiggly Puff; 5. Hawkswood; 6. Overwater Gemini. 8 ran, time 17.37.
