Last night saw a return to Helton for a four-race meeting when weather conditions were poor for the punters but not bad for the hounds.
There was a small field of senior hounds who got things off to a start but there was still no Rodney Raider nor Winterfell, two leading Championship contenders.
There’s been speculation that Rodney Raider has been nursing a foot injury hence his absence but it was surprising that Winterfell wasn’t out after winning on Saturday, so he may also be nursing foot problems.
Huntsman’s Rebel and Embrace were the joint favourites for the race with both hounds having impressive performance records round the course both as pups and senior hounds. As they showed on the finish dropping down all eight dogs were visible but as they dropped in two hounds established a lead.
These were Laura Steele, Andrew Bulman, Ian Rumney and Joel Bulman’s Embrace as predicted and Graham Reid’s Money Talks.
As the hounds climbed back up towards the finish these two continued to come away from the rest of the chasing hounds with Embrace winning easily from Money Talks.
There was a gap to the third hound which was Lady Million who continues to improve, followed closely by Huntsman’s Rebel who was perhaps not herself as she wasn’t out in front leading the race as she likes to do.
Paul Airey and Joanne Hodgson’s Meadow Artisan ran a good race, stepping up in to the longer course to finish in fifth place with Strawberry Mick for Graham Reid taking sixth ticket.
The win for Embrace moves him up to fourth place in the championship table just one point behind joint second placed hounds Huntsman’s Rebel and Winterfell.
Rodney Raider still has his five-point lead which the other chasing hounds in the table haven’t been able to cut back even though the Dearham hound hasn’t seen much action lately with his last win being on June 22 at the International trails. Prior to that he last won on June 8.
Next to slip were the open pups with a slip of 20 and as with the senior race there were two stand-out favourites -Thornton and Huntsman’s Time. However, as they showed on the top there was one hound with a good lead and the rest of them following and seemingly strung out.
As they dropped down and then climbed up, the leading hound maintained the advantage and it became clear that it was the Yorkshire hound Lassie. She finished well up the climb to the finishing line and won very easily for Tom and Ryan Bell.
There was a gap to the second and third hound and it was her sibling Snowfell, who just got the better of Huntsman’s Time, perhaps getting the cleaner run on the trod, to take second place for Barry Laidler and Caroliine Clough with Denise and Co’s Huntsman’s Time taking third place.
Out of the next bunch of hounds to finish Minnie Million for Joy and Brian Lister came in best to claim fourth place with another sibling of the winning hound, Ben ,taking fifth for the Bell’s as well with Malcolm Holmes’ Senor taking the last ticket. Thornton was unplaced.
The win for Lassie was her fourth of the season and puts her up to fourth place in the puppy championship and as the season progresses she seems to be improving all the time. She would have been one to watch for the Bitch Produce stakes but unfortunately doesn’t qualify to run, but she may have a good chance in the open pups.
The open maidens were next to run with a slip of seventeen and Flightline was the favourite with the bookies following recent form.
As the hounds dropped in there were three that had broken away from the main chasing group as they climbed up to the finish and it was George Burgon and Carol Logan’s Tallulah who just hung on to win from kennel-mate Overwater Hunter, giving them a one-two.
David Clifford’s Eden Romina finished in third place with Carol and Stanley Jackson’s Clementine in fourth and their other hound Charisma took the sixth ticket. Marti Borthwick and Co’s Castle Callant finished in fifth place.
It was a much better performance from Tallulah compared to last time when she got herself lost and didn’t come in until much later.
The third place for Eden Romina extends her lead in the open maiden points competition with a 10 point lead so she may be on schedule to win the open maiden points competition again this year if she continues to perform well in this class.
The last race of the night was the all-in with a slip of 10 runners and it was David Clifford’s other hound Eden Rayna who won followed by the Lindsay sisters’ Inspect in second place.
Action will now move to Saturday for the Festival of Hound Trailing taking place at Kirkland Leap’s All trails have been sponsored and there is significant prize money on offer for those who get tickets. There is a seven-race card with action starting at 11.30am.
Prior to the Festival of Hound Trailing taking place, for those who like an early start, there is also the Copshaw Common Riding Puppy trail.
Last year this trail was not classed as a Championship trail according to the HTA rules but following a revision to the rules which took place at the AGM in February this is now also classed in the Championship category.
It takes place at 7.30am and also has significant prize money on offer. All details of both trails can be found on the HTA website.
July 3 – Helton
- Hounds – 1. Embrace; 2. Money Talks; 3. Lady Million; 4. Huntsman’s Rebel; 5. Meadow Artisan; 6. Strawberry Mick. 8 ran, time 31.49.
- Pups – 1. Lassie; 2. Snowfell; 3. Huntsman’s Time; 4. Minnie Million; 5. Ben; 6. Senor. 20 ran, time 18.48.
- Open Maidens – 1. Tallulah; 2. Overwater Hunter;; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Clementine; 5. Castle Callant; 6. Charisma. 17 ran, time 19.06.
- All-In – 1. Eden Rayna; 2. Inspect; 3. Milo Moon; 4. Huntsman’s Quartz; 5. Croft Lass; 6. Missriff. 10 ran, time 19.19.
