Sunday saw hound trailing fixtures at the traditional Grasmere Sports along with an additional meeting at Potter’s Park.
Both trails offered just short of £1,000 prize money each making them attractive propositions for owners and trainers.
Compared to the previous day the forecast wasn’t looking good and as Grasmere got proceedings off to a start with their puppy trail at 11am heavy rain and the mist was coming down.
Despite the rain there were eight runners with Huntsman’s Time being the favourite to notch up another win.
As the hounds were slipped Andy Horn, former vice chairman of the association gave the crowd a rundown regarding what was happening, and when they would view the hounds again returning to the field.
Once they showed on the top they soon dropped in and there were three hounds together, as they crossed the road. It was Huntsman’s Time who just pulled away and had a couple of yards lead as they entered the main arena at the Sports.
She went on to cross the line in first place for Denise and Jenny Bland, Graeme Little and Lisa Crosby. The win for Tina, as she is known at the kennel, was her eighteenth of the season.
In second place, just a length or so behind, was Christine Brownlee’s Maeve with James and Ava McClelland’s Countess Ava in third place.
There was a gap to the fourth hound which was Stephen Irving and Caroline Graham’s Zeta who was then followed by Sophie Steele and Co’s Miterdale Rumble and Miterdale Rambler.
Compared to the look-round trail a couple of weeks ago, even though the conditions were poor, the hounds completed the trail in a much faster time knocking about seven minutes off the clock.
Next to slip were the open restricted with the rain showing no signs of easing off.
There were seven runners with Carol and Stanley Jackson’s Charisma at the top of the bookies board. As they showed dropping down the fell there were two hounds clear and it was Charisma and kennel mate Clementine.
As they neared the line it was Clementine who just got up to beat her kennel mate for first place. Malia for Christine Brownlee finished in third place with Sophie Steele and Roy Laidler’s Kirkhead Rebel behing in fourth.
Last to complete the trail was Bretton for Julie Birkenshaw as only five finished.
Third place for Christine’s Malia now takes her level with Thorn Pop in the Open Restricted points competition.
The Veterans were next to slip with seven competing. Miterdale Duchess was the odds on favourite but when they showed on the top there was one hound with a lead.
Once they dropped in it was seen to be Christine Brownlee’s Monsoon, aptly named in the weather conditions, who came with a clear lead and crossed the line in first place.
She was followed by Jenny’s Oracle who was just returning to racing after being off for a while so it was a nice surprise for Glenis and Raymond Farren who were not really expecting to get a ticket.
In third place it was Bob for Tony, Marlene, Connor and Carter Irving. Connor was also awarded the Young Handler Award for the day so he was really chuffed.
In fourth was Reebok for Brian Graham and Eleanor Chisholm. Miterdale Duchess was a little way back but finished in fifth with her kennel mate Hawkswood finishing in sixth for Denis Pear and Jackie Gill.
Unfortunately, as the weather conditions continued to deteriorate, word came back into the trail field that the trailers had been unable to see enough to lay the trail so the senior race had to be abandoned.
Meanwhile the meeting was just about to get underway at Potter’s Park with a six race card. Weather conditions were no better in the west of the county but the trailers were able to get round safely to lay the trails.
First were the senior hounds with a slip of seven. Denise Bland had driven from Grasmere with her other hounds Huntsman’s Rebel and Huntsman’s Trouble and planned to run them at Potters Park.
Huntsman’s Rebel seems to be coming into form with two wins at Rusland and a second place at Cold Fell. The last time she won at Potter’s Park was back in June.
The reports coming in from outside were that she was leading the trail with Strawberry Mick close behind and when they showed on the finish it was Huntsman’s Rebel and the much-improved Strawberry Mick who came together.
It was Huntsman’s Rebel who crossed the line just a yard or so in front of Strawberry Mick for Graham Reid.
The win for Huntsman’s Rebel takes her to eight just two points behind the two top hounds Rodney Raider and Silver Dream.
Mel for Les Reid and Ellie Napier finished in third place with Busy Again for Alan Blacklock in fourth.
Sarah Jane for the Dearham kennel of Joseph Abram and Nicola McMaster finished in fifth with Grace Napier’s Foxparke Honk Honk taking sixth ticket.
The senior maidens were next to slip with 13 of them and at the half-way mark it was the Foxparke team who were heading up the race with Foxparke Danny Elliot and Foxparke Dealer with Summer Spirit in close pursuit.
However, once on the finish it was Summer Spirit for Willie and Daphne Mark that came on his own well clear of the second and third hounds.
The two Foxparke hounds must have made a mistake in the bottoms which took them out of the race as finishing in second place was one of their other hounds Foxparke Bugga Boo followed by Stephen Riley and Isla Hetherington’s Ruby.
Lisa Whitfield’s Black Edition finished in fourth with the Lindsay sister’s Inspect in fifth. The last ticket went to Lucky Moon for Tony Jackson and Ian Rudd.
The open pups were next to be slipped and there were seven of them, including the in-form Minnie Million after her impressive win at Redmain and title challenger Thornton who has just been off the pace lately.
As the hounds crossed the roads out on the trail reports were coming in that it was Blue Striker for Erin and Brian Rawlandson who was leading followed closely by Baroness Ava and Thornton with Huntsman’s Trouble for Denise Bland and Co not too far behind.
As they showed on the finish it was local hound Apache Chief for Debbie and Lana McGee who was in front but Huntsman’s Trouble was chasing her down and came from second place to grab the win.
It completed a cross-card treble on the day for Denise and her team. She did have some help at Potters Park with Ellie Napier slipping and catching both hounds for her, so she might have been Denise’s lucky charm on the day.
It certainly wasn’t anything to do with the weather as the conditions continued to get worse.
Thornton finished third, which was a slight improvement on recent runs but he is just missing out on claiming the wins he needs.
Blue Striker who had shown promise early-on in the race finished in fourth place with Baroness Ava coming in to claim the fifth ticket. The in-form Minnie Million had to settle for the last ticket on this occasion.
The Puppy Maidens were next with a slip of nine runners and as usual it was an open race with anyone having the potential to win.
As they came on to the finish it was Debbie and Lana’s other hound Apache Brave who jumped the last fence first and came on to win.
Spring Return was looking as though he was going to come through and win but he ran up towards the judges which allowed Foxparke Elliot’s Lad to come through for second place and Good Enough for Graham Reid was third.
Spring Return got fourth place for Jenny Horn with Huntsman’s Trust for Ruth and Daniel Graham taking fifth.
There was another ticket for the Foxparke team with Elliot’s Lass claiming sixth.
The open restricted race was next with 15 runners and as they showed on the finish it was anyone’s race but Cracking Last One Two for Bill and Pat Mellon and Robert and Tina Airey finished really well to win.
Lucky Lottie for Geoff and Gillian Higgins finished in second place with the Foxparke Team getting third this time with Foxparke Side Kick.
Lily ran a great race for Barbara and Geoff Jones and finished in fourth place with Tesla in fifth for the Hetherington family followed by kennel mate Splendid Lily in sixth place.
The last race of the day was the veterans with a slip of 11 hounds.
As the hounds jumped the last fence it was the local hound Kinniside Jacko for Tony Jackson and Ian Rudd who was leading and crossed the line in first place, winning easily from Adele who was in second place for Sarah Bell.
Eagle Star ran on well to claim third ticket with kennel mate to the race winner, Kinniside Dan, getting up to take fourth place.
Hunter’s Flame then came in for fifth place with the last ticket of the day going to the Foxparke Team and Foxparke Parma Violet.
After a long afternoon in some of the worst weather this season everyone was pleased to get the hounds in and to get away home.
The second place for Adele moves her back into the lead in the veterans points competition with just two points in it.
Action over the bank holiday weekend continued with a four race meeting at Uldale. Hopefully the weather conditions were much improved.
August 25 – Potter’s Park
- Hounds – 1. Huntsman’s Rebel; 2. Strawberry Mick; 3. Mel; 4. Busy Again; 5. Sarah Jane; 6. Foxparke Honk Honk. 7 ran, time 30.32.
- Maidens – 1. Summer Spirit; 2. Foxparke Bugga Boo; 3. Ruby; 4. Black Edition; 5. Inspect; 6. Lucky Moon. 13 ran, time 35.50.
- Pups – 1. Huntsman’s Trouble; 2. Apache Chief; 3. Thornton; 4. Blue Striker; 5. Baroness Ava; 6. Minnie Million. 7 ran, time 20.28.
- Puppy Maiden – 1. Apache Brave; 2. Foxparke Elliot’s Lad; 3. Good Enough; 4. Spring Return; 5. Huntsman’s Trust; 6. Foxparke Elliot’s Lass. 9 ran, time 20.13.
- Open Restricted – 1. Cracking Last One Two; 2. Lucky Lottie; 3. Foxparke Side Kick; 4. Lily; 5. Tesla; 6. Splendid Lily. 15 ran, time 20.31.
- Veterans – 1. Kinniside Jacko; 2. Adele; 3. Eagle Star; 4. Kinniside Dan; 5. Hunter’s Flame; 6. Foxparke Parma Violet. 11 ran, time 19.42.
Grasmere
- Seniors – cancelled trailers unable to get round due to weather conditions.
- Pups – 1. Huntsman’s Time; 2. Maeve; 3. Countess Ava; 4. Zeta; 5. Miterdale Rumble; 6. Miterdale Ranbler. 8 ran, time 20.03.
- Open Restricted – 1. Clementine; 2. Charisma; 3. Malia; 4. Kirkhead Rebel; 5. Bretton. 7 ran, only five finished. Time 19.35.
- Veteran – 1. Monsoon; 2. Jenny’s Oracle; 3. Bob; 4. Reebok; 5. Miterdale Duchess; 6. Hawkswood. 7 ran, time 19. 25.
