Monday night saw a return to Kirkland Leaps for a three-race card when the seniors were first to slip with 18 of them involved.
Mel and Silver Dream were at the top of the bookies boards as both hounds are running very well at the moment, and they looked in tip top condition. Huntsman’s Rebel and Winterfell were running to make it a competitive race.
Crossing the second road it was Huntsman’s Rebel who was in first place followed by Busy Again and then Silver Dream but at half-way Silver Dream and Mel were out in front with a decent lead over Huntsman’s Rebel who had dropped back. Busy Again and Sportsman were chasing them down in fourth and fifth place.
When they came onto the finish they hadn’t changed other than Silver Dream had come away by 20 lengths to cross the line in first place for Darren and Julie McMaster, with Les Reid and Ellie Napier’s Mel finishing well in second place.
There was a gap to Huntsman’s Rebel for Denise Bland and Co with another gap to Busy Again for Alan Blacklock and Sportsman in fifth for Daphne and Willie marks. Silver Streak had made some ground up on the second half of the trail to take sixth ticket.
The win for Silver Dream takes him to seven wins now clear of Winterfell and in second place behind kennel-mate Rodney Raider who hasn’t run for a number of weeks.
Silver Dream seems to be the one to watch and the biggest challenger to her sibling who still sits top of the table despite his fairly lengthy absence.
Next to slip were the open pups with 23 of them and table leader Huntsman’s Time was back out running although she hasn’t been at her best round this course and hasn’t ticketed this year at the venue. Thornton wasn’t running, perhaps saving himself for Gilsland on Tuesday night.
Competition was likely to come from the local hounds Countess Ava and Baroness Ava as James McLelland looks to notch up a few more wins with Countess Ava to close the gap in the puppy championship.
After they were slipped and came to the first road it was Countess Ava and Sonny Bill who were heading up the race followed closely by Baroness Ava and Huntsman’s Time. They had a nice lead from the remainder of the hounds.
Once on the finish it proved a good race between the first two hounds as they were neck and neck coming up to the line but it was Baroness Ava who just got the upper hand from her kennel mate Countess Ava as she crossed the line in first place for a second puppy race win.
It’s highly likely that James would have preferred Countess Ava to have won instead, but that’s hound trailing for you. It wasn’t a bad night’s effort getting another one, two.
Sonny Bill stayed on well to claim third ticket with Thorn Soul finishing fast to take fourth ticket for Colin Satterthwaite as Huntsman’s Time just seemed to ease down a little as she approached the line to take fifth place for Denise and jenny Bland and Graeme Little and Lisa Crosby. Gillian Bulman-Brown and Mickey O’Brien’s Peggy Sue took the last ticket.
The open maidens were next with a slip of 23 hounds and as they showed on the finish there were four or five hounds in with a chance of winning.
In the end, though, it was Stanley and Carole Jackson’s Clementine who finished like a train coming from about fourth to cross the line with a few yards to spare.
Sophie Steele’s Miterdale Dust also finished well to come through from third place to take second in front of Joanna, Martin, Molly and Teddy Burrow’s Thorn Thunder in third place.
Sophie’s other hound Miterdale Dusk finished well and claimed fourth place with Persian Gold for Mike Watson not too far behind in fifth place. The last ticket of the race went to Tony Jackson and Ian Rudd’s Lucky Moon.
July 29 – Kirkland Leaps
- Hounds – 1. Silver Dream; 2. Mel 3. Huntsman’s Rebel; 4. Busy Again; 5. Sportsman; 6. Silver Streak. 18 ran, time 29.01.
- Pups – 1. Baroness Ava; 2. Countess Ava; 3. Sonny Bill; 4. Thorn Soul; 5. Huntsman’s Time; 6. Peggy Sue. 23 ran, time 20.25.
- Open Maidens – 1. Clementine; 2. Miterdale Dust; 3. Thorn Thunder; 4. Miterdale Dusk; 5. Persian Gold; 6. Lucky Moon. 23 ran, time 20.28.
