Tuesday saw a return to Redmain for the start of a very busy period leading up to, and over, the bank holiday weekend.
Hound owners have plenty of choice where to run at so that will no doubt affect numbers at some meetings.
At Redmain the evening proved to be very blustery and cold, more like the back end of the year than mid-to-late August. However, it remained largely dry so that was a blessing.
The senior hounds were first to slip with a reasonable field of 16 and there was a good class of hound with Silver Dream almost level with sibling and kennel mate Rodney Raider at the top of the championship table, with last year’s puppy champion still struggling to get back to form.
She was the favourite at 2/1 on with Les Reid and Ellie Napier’s Mel second favourite at 7/4. Busy Again and Croft Lass were at 5/1 with the rest of the field anything from 6/1.
As the hounds showed heading down towards Bridekirk it was Mel who was driving the race forward with Silver Dream just sitting in second place. They were followed by a couple of the Foxparke’s, Foxparke Honk Honk and Foxparke Side Kick, and these four had a slight lead over the other hounds.
Once they had turned and were heading back towards the finish, it was still Mel and Silver Dream who had broken away from the other chasing hounds and had twenty or so yards lead.
On the run up to the line Silver Dream does what she does and came away from Mel to win easily, as she is proving very difficult to beat on a finish these days. The win takes her now level with Rodney Raider on ten wins at the top of the championship table.
Mel ran a really good race to finish in second place. Next to cross was Busy Lad in the sole care of Carol Blacklock with her dad Alan not feeling too well and unable to attend the trails.
In fourth place was Foxparke Side Kick who ran a great race for the Foxparke Team. Their other hound Foxparke Honk Honk finished in fifth much to the delight of Grace Napier, just slightly off the pace compared to her win at Rusland.
Taking the last ticket was Strawberry Mick for Graham Reid who ran a much better race than previously.
The open pups were up next with a slip of 15. Again there was a good selection of top hounds with Thornton still sitting three points behind Huntsman’s Time in the championship race.
In the bookies ring Thornton was 6/4 on with Minnie Million, who got the better of him last week, at evens and Thorn Soul was at 7/2.
As they went down into the bottoms there were five hounds with a lead. Thornton was in front with a couple of the Thorns chasing hard, Thorn Soul and Thorn Heart. Minnie Million, at this stage, was a bad tenth.
Once past the wooded area the cows delayed the hounds slightly and the hounds bunched up. The tricky gate that always seems to put the mockers on Minnie Million was open again so didn’t cause her any difficulties.
When they showed again coming back towards the finish Minnie Million had gained ground and was up with the leaders.
Once over the last fence it was a repeat of the battle held last week between Thornton and Minnie Million. Both were head-to-head as they approached the line but it was Minnie Million again who just pushed on and won by half a length but both hounds were flying as they crossed the line.
It was Minnie’s fourth win of the season and she is turning out to be a good little hound maturing as the year progresses.
 In third place was Denise Bland and co’s Huntsman’s Trouble with Thorn Soul finishing in fourth place for the Burrow’s and Sarah Jackson.
In fifth was Spring Return for Jenny Horn who’s hound also seems to be improving as the season progresses with Thorn Heart for Colin Satterthwaite taking sixth ticket. It’s worth noting that the second, third and fourth hounds were all out of the same litter – Charisma and Cuckoo Lane – and were bred by Carol and Stanley Jackson.
As the evening was drawing in and it wasn’t getting any warmer the last race of the night was slipped. There were 25 open maidens and it was a fairly open field in the bookies ring. lementine was the 2/1 favourite with Inspect sitting at 7/2 and Eden Romina at 4/1.
Once back onto the finish there was a great battle with five hounds close together. In the end it was Foxparke Elliot’s Lass who just got up to snatch the win from Lucky Moon for Tony Jackson and Ian Rudd in second place.
The Foxparke team are putting their new-found ticketing luck down to the presence of Grace and have named her their lucky charm as whenever she is with them they do really well in the races.
Eden Romina always manages to ticket and claimed third place getting her another four points and extending her lead further. She is going to be very difficult to catch in the open maiden points competition and may make it two years on the trot in winning the title.
Inspect finished well and came through as he normally does to take fourth place for the Lindsay sisters. with Jenny Horn claiming another ticket with her hound Spring Remedy. The last ticket of the night went to Tania Satterthwaite’s Paddy The Plasterer.
Action moves to Rusland again tonight with the first race at 6pm. Then it’s on to Calebreak on Thursday evening with their first race also at 6pm.
There’s an action-packed week-end with trails at Shap on Saturday where there is a four-race card and that’s followed by the traditional Grasmere Sports on the Sunday with four races, as well as the Melbreak Foxhound Intake day at Potters Park with a six-race meeting. Both events are worth just short of £2,000 in prize money over the 10 races.
Then on Bank Holiday Monday it’s back to Uldale for a four race meeting. All the details are at houndtrailingassociation.com
August 20 – Redmain
- Hounds – 1. Silver Dream; 2. Mel; 3. Busy Again; 4. Foxparke Side Kick; 5. Foxparke Honk Honk; 6. Strawberry Mick. 16 ran, time 26.40.
- Pups – 1. Minnie Million; 2. Thornton; 3. Huntsman’s Trouble; 4. Thorn Soul; 5. Spring Return; 6. Thorn Heart. 15 ran, time 18.46.
- Open Maiden – 1,. Foxparke Elliot’s Lass; 2. Lucky Moon; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Inspect; 5. Spring Remedy; 6. Paddy The Plasterer. 25 ran, time 18.56.
