Thursday night saw the first of two meetings at Cleamire organised by the Aspatria and Wigton Area and weather conditions were not great.
It was more like winter than the height of summer and it was recalled that this time last year the HTA was meeting to review what action they could take due to the very high temperatures that everyone was experiencing!
Despite the weather and the number of fixtures during the last couple of days there was a reasonably good turnout of dogs and the senior hounds got things off to a start with a slip of 11 runners.
Huntsman’s Rebel was back out running after a short break and as they showed in the distance she was blazing a lonely trail and had a comfortable lead. She then made her way back towards the finish and crossed the line winning by a distance obviously liking the cooler conditions and the open running.
The win takes her to four for Denise and Jenny Bland, Jim and Alan Little and Greame Little and is now in joint second place in the senior table with Winterfell, still six points behind Rodney Raider.
The table leader had opted not to run at Cleamire but reigning champion Winterfell had been 6/4 joint favourite with Huntsman’s Rebel and was off the pace failing to pick-up a ticket.
As the next two hounds showed in the distance they were racing closely together and as they came to the line it was a close finish with Dream Catcher for Cathy Lister just getting up to claim second place from Denis Pear and Jackie Gill’s Miterdale Duchess. Silver Streak was fourth for the Dearham kennel of Joe Abram and Nicola McMaster and Foxparke Beep Beep claimed fifth place, so it was nice to see those two ticketing after being off the pace recently.
The last ticket went to kennel mate Foxparke Dealer for the Napier and Butler kennel.
Next to get going were the open pups with a good slip of 21 hounds. From the list of runners it looked likely to be a battle between the Windermere and Yorkshire team and the Patterdale team of Denise and co.
Reports were coming in that the hounds were getting strung out as they ran the course outside and as they showed in the distance there were five or six hounds still in with a chance. As they navigated the long finish the hounds started to get stretched out and it was Huntsman’s Time, along with Ben, who gained a slight advantage on the run in with Lassie dropping back.
Huntsman’s Time just did enough to cross the line a couple of yards in front of Ben and that was her first win for over two weeks to extend her lead in the puppy championship to six as she now sits on 13 wins. Her nearest rival Thornton wasn’t running and mostly likely will be running at Wardhall at the week-end and who is definitely on top form at the moment.
The Windermere and Yorkshire collaboration took third place with Snowfell and fourth with Lassie, with Denise and Co taking fifth place with Huntsman’s Trust. The last ticket of the day went to Sarah Harper’s Delta Scribe who is starting to show some promise.
The ever-popular open maidens were next with a good slip of 24 hounds with Adele the even money favourite and Reebok sitting at 6/4.
Out on the trail Reebok made the running and came onto the finish with a good lead to win for Brian Graham and Eleanor Chisholm. Adele finished well in second place for the Bell family with the gamble of the night in third, Jenny Horn’s Spring Remedy at 6/1 without the first two.
Christine Brownlee’s Monsoon has a history of liking the course at Cleamire and finished in fourth place with Brian and Joy Lister’s Imagine in fifth ahead of Denis Pear and Jackie Gill’s Hawkswood who took the sixth ticket.
The last race of the night was the open restricted race with 17 runners and Brian Graham was looking for a double on the night with Eleanor’s Lass but as they showed on the finish it had developed into a good race with Border Reign for Annabelle Connolly, at 4/1, finishing really well and coming from third place to win.
In second place was the Hill’s Huntsman’s Sparkle, a useful pup from last year if she decided to come in on the finish with Christine Brownlee’s Malia taking third place followed by Eleanor’s Lass in fourth.
Denton Shamrock for Sandra Mordue and Lee Wall finished in fifth, with Cracking last One Two for Bill and Pat Mellon and Robert and Tina Airey finally getting into the tickets claiming sixth.
Trailing moves to Wardhall on Saturday with an early start and a four race card before it’s back to Cleamire on Sunday for a five-race meeting.
The start of next week sees a return to Potter’s Park on Monday and then the last of the four trails at Wardhall on the Wednesday before attention moves to north of Carlisle with the International Committee hosting their trails at Spadeadam on Saturday June 22.
June 13 – Cleamire
- Hounds – 1. Huntsman’s Rebel; 2. Dream Catcher; 3. Miterdale Duchess; 4. Silver Streak; 5. Foxparke Beep Beep; 6. Foxparke Dealer. 11 ran, time 28.46.
- Pups – 1. Huntsman’s Time; 2. Ben; 3. Snowfell; 4. Lassie; 5. Huntsman’s Trust; 6. Delta Scribe. 21 ran, time 19.58.
- Open Maiden – 1. Reebok; 2. Adele; 3. Spring Remedy; 4. Monsoon; 5. Imagine; 6. Hawkswood. 24 ran, time 18.05.
- Open Restricted – 1. Border Reign; 2. Huntsman’s Sparkle; 3. Malia; 4. Eleanor’s Lass; 5. Denton Shamrock; 6. Cracking Last One Two. 17 ran, time 17.30.
