Sunday saw the first of two trails to be held at Wythop with the main organizer being Ricky Deacon.
Ricky has been laying the trails at Wythop and the surrounding areas for well over fifty years and now in his seventies is still going strong.
The trails at Wythop are usually well supported and the number of runners at the trails was well up for this time of year. Proceeds from the two trails will go towards local charities.
The seniors were first to go with a slip of 19 runners. The two hounds at the top of the bookies board were Lady Million, who is just coming back on form and likes the course around Wythop, along with Cautious who also has a good track record at Wythop but of late has just been off the pace slightly.
Reports were coming in from the first road that it was Lady Million who was in front, and when the hounds showed on the top of the fell after climbing up out of Darling How Lady Million was still there and leading the race.
However it wasn’t Cautious who was chasing her down but Foxparke Beep Beep. Bubbles, as she is known, has been off for a while and is only just returning to racing but like the other dogs Wythop is a course that she likes and she seems to do well when it is a down-hill finish.
As they dropped in both hounds had a slight lead with Lady Million just in front as they went out of sight. But once back on to the finish it was Foxparke Beep Beep who had a few yards lead.
As they approached the line Lady Million was closing but Beep Beep just got to the line with only half a length in it to take the win. The connections of Beep Beep were highly delighted with how she had performed. It was good to see her back on form and winning again.
Thorn Thunder for Martin, Joanna, Molly and Teddy Burrows finished well in third place with Busy Again ticketing in fourth place for Alan Blacklock.
Croft Lass for Stanley and Carol Jackson finished in fifth with Eden Rayna for David Clifford taking sixth.
This was Foxparke Beep Beep’s fourth run since returning to action and she has had two thirds and a win so not bad going. The win moves her up the championship table but she remains some way behind the leading hounds.
Rodney Raider was running but finished some way back behind the ticketing hounds.
Next were the open pups with a really good slip of 27 hounds. Top of the bookies board were Thornton and Minnie Million.
Minnie Million had got the better of Thornton on Wednesday night at Redmain so connections were looking to get the upper hand and to try and pull a point back towards Huntsman’s Time who won on Saturday at Rusland.
When the dogs showed at the top of the fell there were about six or seven of them together. Minnie Million was definitely one of the leading hounds but the punters were unsure what the others were, many of them having the same markings.
As they dropped out of sight Snowfell had moved up and was now leading the way.
When they came through the top gate Snowfell had a lead of about twenty yards and finished well to win for Barry Laidler and Caroline Clough by a good ten yards.
He was being chased down by Baroness Ava and Thorn Heart but it was Thorn Heart who just got up on the line to win by a short nose for Colin Satterthwaite.
Huntsman’s Trouble for Denise Bland and Co finished in fourth place just beating Thornton who was in fifth with Minnie Million in sixth with only a yard between third and sixth hounds.
The win for Snowfell was his seventh of the season and moves him up to fourth place in the puppy championship table.
The open maidens were next with the same number of runners, 27. Reebok was the favourite at 4/5 on with Sam Cro sitting at 5/2 and Eden Romina at 4/1.
Again when they showed at the top of the fell there were plenty of hounds together but once they had dropped in and came back into view it was Tania Sattethwaite’s Samcro who was in front but racing alongside her was Eden Romina.
In the end Samcro just did enough to edge it and win by a short head.
Inspect was finishing like a bullet and came from fifth place to take third for the Lindsay sisters with Overwater Hunter for George Burgeon in fourth.
A fast finishing Castle Callant for Marti Borthwick and Co was fifth, making her long trip down from Langholm well worth it.
Imagine for Brian and Joy Lister finished in sixth place.
Second place for David Clifford would just suit him well giving him another five points in the open maiden competition extending his lead further.
The last race of the afternoon was for the open restricted with 18 runners.
As the hounds showed on the top they were more spread out but when they came down the last field it was Huntsman’s Sparkle who was well out in front but she eased right down and stopped before she crossed the line.
That let Huntsman’s Quartz come through and take the win for Ian Donaldson. Tania Satterthwaite’s Swamp Fox finished in second place, so just denied a double on the day and was followed in by Foxparke Side Kick.
Christopher Henderson and Frank Dockray’s Light Up finished in fourth place with Eagle Love for Linda Neale and Mark, Josh and Georgia Bryden in fifth. Milo Moon for the Hill’s finished in sixth place.
Huntsman’s Sparkle eventually crossed the line but by this time was well out of the tickets.
This week is another busy one leading up to the Bank Holiday week-end which makes it busier than ever.
Tuesday sees another return to Redmain for a three-race card followed by another visit to Rusland on Wednesday night with three races taking place.
It’s then then back up to Calebreak on the Thursday while over the Bank Holiday weekend there is also plenty of action with trails taking place at Shap on the Saturday then on Sunday Grasmere Sports hosts four trails with prize money in excess of £700.
Further west the Intake day for the Melbreak Foxhounds will be taking place and they will be hosting six trails all worth £150 each so just short of a £1000 prize money on offer.
Then on Bank Holiday Monday Uldale will be back on with a four-race meeting in the afternoon. So plenty of good trailing over the coming week. All details of the trails available from the houndtrailingassociation.com web page
August 18 – Wythop
Hounds – 1. Foxparke Beep Beep; 2. Lady Million; 3. Thorn Thunder; 4. Busy Again; 5. Croft Lass; 6. Eden Rayna. 19 ran, time 30.06.
Pups – 1. Snowfell; 2. Thorn Heart; 3. Baroness Ava; 4. Huntsman’s Trouble; 5. Thornton; 6. Minnie Million. 27 ran, time 21.56.
Open Maiden – 1. Samcrow; 2. Eden Romina; 3. Inspect; 4. Overwater Hunter; 5. Castle Callant; 6. Imagine. 27 ran, time 21.04.
Open Restricted – 1. Huntsman’s Quartz; 2. Swamp Fox; 3. Foxparke Side Kick; 4. Light Up; 5. Eagle Love; 6. Milo Moon. 18 ran, time 20.56.
