Last night saw the penultimate trail to be held at Cold Fell with the last one set for September 7.
Over the series of trails held there the proceeds from the trails will be donated towards local and national charities.
Ken Routledge and Christine McGee both work to support the raising of funds and over the years have been supported by many stalwarts from the Whitehaven hound trailing community such as Wills Logan, Bill Huddart, Maurice Bewley and Birkett Lawson to name a few.
Christine, who is the chairman of the Whitehaven Area, said that it would not be possible to raise funds if it wasn’t for the co-operation and goodwill of the local farmers and landowners, all those who contribute their time free of charge and to all the hound trailing people who support the events.
Last night’s event saw a good turnout of dogs in advance of the major HTA trail taking place at the weekend.
The senior hounds got things underway with a good slip of 20 runners. The in-form Sportsman was running alongside Huntsman’s Rebel, but as they went through at the half way point it was Les Reid and Ellie Napier’s Mel who was leading the race along with Foxparke Beep Beep who is just returning to active duty after being off for a while.
Once they showed on the finish Mel had broken away and had established a good lead and crossed the line an easy winner much to the delight of Ellie and Les. Next to cross the line was Huntsman’s Rebel for Denise Bland and Co followed by Sportsman and Summer Spirit in third and fourth place for Willie and Daphne Mark’s.
The Jackson kennel continues to ticket with a fifth place for Croft Lass, with the last ticket of the race going to Thorn Thunder for Martin, Joanna, Molly and Teddy Burrows.
The open pups were next with another good slip of 17 hounds and as they went through the middle of the fell it was the Green family’s Green Power who was heading up the race alongside Ava and James McClelland’s Countess Ava.
Once they turned to come back on the finish it was a good race with four or five hounds in with a chance to win.
Green Power had dropped out of the ticketing hounds and as they approached the line it was tight between the first three hounds with Huntsman’s Trouble looking like it was going to win but was just pipped at the line by Countess Ava who had the strongest finish.
Huntsman’s Trouble for Denise Bland and co was a close second followed by Minnie Million for Brian and Joy Lister. James’s other hound Baroness Ava was fourth with Colin Satterthwaite’s Thorn Soul finishing fifth. Peggy Sue for Gillian Bulman-Brown and Mickey O’Brien finished in sixth, a ticket which she seems to like having notched up five of them so far.
The win for Countess Ava takes her to 10 for the season one point closer to Thornton who is still in second place with 14 while table leader Huntsman’s Time will most likely be running at the Ings Sheep Dog Trials on Thursday and is still out in front with 16 wins.
Next up were the open maidens with a good slip of 29 runners. Eden Romina was running and looking for more points to extend her lead in the points competition for that grade.
As the hounds showed on the finish they were nicely strung out making it easy for the judge. It was Mike Watson’s Persian Gold who came with a few yards and crossed the line on front of little Off-Spring who ran well and finished in second place for Jacob and Stuart Jeynes.
Eden Romina didn’t disappoint David Clifford and notched up another four points for third to add to her tally and extend her lead further.
Castle Callant ran a great race for Marti Borthwick and Co and made the long journey down from the borders well worth it. Local hounds Lucky Moon and Lucky Lottie for Tony Jackson, Ian Rudd and Geoff and Gillian Higgins finished well in fifth and sixth place.
Action moves to the annual Sheep Dog Trials at Ings on Thursday with a three race card before all eyes move to the weekend with the HTA Premier Trails taking place.
This year they are hosted by the Aspatria and Wigton Area and will be held at Uldale. All the trails have been kindly sponsored by Holmen and Iggesund, the Aspatria and Wigton Area and the Oulton Supporters group.
As ever the HTA would like to thank the Aspatria and Wigton Area for hosting the trails and all the farmers and landowners for agreeing to the hounds running over their land.
Holmen and Iggesund have provided sponsorship over the last three years and the HTA welcomes their continue support and is very grateful.
Hopefully the weather will hold up and it will be a great day’s trailing with on field book making and refreshments provided. The first race starts at 1pm and the trail field can be found on the road up from Uldale heading towards Caldbeck.
August 7 – Cold Fell
- Hounds – 1. Mel; 2. Huntsman’s Rebel; 3. Sportsman; 4. Summer Spirit; 5. Croft Lass; 6. Thorn Thunder. 20 ran, time 29.40.
- Pups – 1. Countess Ava; 2. Huntsman’s Trouble; 3. Minnie Million; 4. Baroness Ava; 5. Thorn Soul; 6. Peggy Sue. 17 ran, time 19.44.
- Open Maidens – 1. Persian Gold; 2. Off Spring; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Castle Callant; 5. Lucky Moon; 6. Lucky Lottie. 29 ran, time 19.22.
