Tuesday night saw the first of three trails to be held at Rusland with the opener giving everyone a chance to have a look round in advance of the Rusland Show on Saturday.
The seniors slipped first with 11 runners and Miterdale Duchess was the favourite as Rusland is one of her favourite venues having won both of the senior trails that were run there last year.
As the hounds showed on the finish it was, as expected, Miterdale Duchess for Denis Pear and Jackie Gill in front but hard on her heels, only a few yards behind, was Miterdale Honesty for Sophie Steele and Co as they crossed the line.
In third place, a little way back was Denise and Jenny Bland and Graeme Little’s Huntsman’s Rebel with Tom and Ryan Bell’s Ron in fourth place. Linda Neale and Mark, Josh and Georgia Bryden’s Eagle Love finished in fifth with Miterdale Dust for Sophie Steele and Co taking the sixth ticket.
Next to slip were the pups and there was only six of them, a sign of the number of fixtures this week as it starts to have an impact on runners.
Table leader Huntsman’s Time was running for Denise and Jenny Bland, Graeme Little and Lisa Crosby and was the odds-on favourite.
As the hounds came back into view it was Baroness Ava who was in front and held on to cross the line from Huntsman’s Time in second place. Temporary owners of the winner Stephen Irving and Caroline Graham were pleased with the result as James McLelland and his family are on holiday,
Sophie Steele was in the mix again with her hounds as Miterdale Rambler was third with Caroline Clough and Barry Laidler’s Classmate getting fourth. These were the onlyones to get round the course.
The last race of the night was the ever-popular open maiden race with 19 runners. Eden Romina was running and connections were looking for her to notch up more points to extend her lead in the open maiden points competition.
There were a fair few Foxparkes running and as the hounds showed it was Foxparke Joey Elliot who came with a good lead and there were no other hounds in sight.
He crossed the line to win with a much faster time than the pups, knocking a couple of minutes off the finishing time. Sarah Harper and Co from Rockcliff finished in second place and she would have been well pleased with that result with her hound Delta Script after such a long trek.
The Foxparke team also claimed third ticket with Foxparke Elliot’s Lad as well as sixth ticket with Foxparke Danny Elliot.
Eden Romina didn’t disappoint and came in fourth place for David Clifford getting her another three points with Kinniside Dan for Tony Jackson and Ian Rudd in fifth. Eden Romina is now twenty four points ahead of her nearest rival which is Thorn Thunder.
August 13 – Rusland
- Hounds – 1. Miterdale Duchess; 2. Miterdale Honesty; 3. Huntsman’s Rebel; 4. Eagle Love; 5. Ron; 6. Miterdale Dust. 11 ran, time 35 52.
- Pups – 1. Baroness Ava; 2. Huntsman’s Time; 3. Miterdale Rambler; 4. Classmate. 6 ran, only 4 finished, time 23.32.
- Open maiden – 1. Foxparke Joey Elliot; 2. Delta Script; 3. Foxparke Elliot’s Lad; 4. Eden Romina; 5. Kinniside Dan; 6. Foxparke Danny Elliot. 19 ran, time 20.09.
