Tuesday saw two fixtures for the hound trailing fraternity to choose from with Buttermere offering fell running and Moss Peteral providing open moorland so owners and punters could take their pick.
With the leading hounds in the senior championship opting to run at different venues hoping to get one up on each other it was Huntsman’s Rebel who ran at Buttermere with long-time leader Rodney Raider having his first outing after an extended absence, choosing to run at Moss Peteral.
At Buttermere there was a slip of 14 hounds for the seniors and as they waited on the line to be sent on their way Huntsman’s Rebel was looking quite pensive and not very excited about the opportunity to run.
However once slipped, as they climbed up on to the top of Robinson, she had developed a good lead and had climbed away from the rest of the chasing hounds.
It took amazing strength and endurance by all the hounds to manage the climb up in less than five minutes, which never fails to impress every time the hounds do it.
Once back into view as they ran round the bottom of Fleetwith Pike, Huntsman’s Rebel had extended her lead with the chasing hounds being Money Talks and Huntsman’s Quantum followed by Thorn Thunder, Foxparke Fairlady and Croft Lass.
Once into the bottom of Warnscale the hounds come back into view and the lead had changed with the chasing hounds catching up to Huntsman’s Rebel.
As they climbed back up towards Scarth Gap it was Money Talks and Huntsman’s Quantum who were leading with Huntsman’s Rebel having dropped back to third. Once on the top all the hounds struggled to get through the bracken but Money Talks was still heading up the race along with Huntsman’s Quantumh.
They both dropped in but as they got to the bottom Huntsman’s Rebel was bang up with them both again and she came over the last fence in front as her rivals made slight mistakes.
Once on the finish Huntsman’s Rebel came away well and won by a good few lengths for Denise Bland and her team. That win took her one point clear of the other chasing hounds in the championship race.
Huntsman’s Quantum ran on well to finish in second place for the Little family with Money Talks finishing in third place for Graham Reid. Croft Lass ran a great race to finish in fourth place for Carole and Stanley Jackson with Foxparke Fair Lady in fifth for the Napier and Butler team and the last ticket went to Thorn Thunder for the Burrows family.
Meanwhile up at Moss Petera,l Rodney Raider was running after his lengthy absence and as the hounds showed on the finish it was the in-form Sportsman for Willie and Daphne Marks who came with Embrace, also just returning from a period of being absent.
Both finished very well with Sportsman just getting up by a head to take the win from Embrace. Both Laura Steele, Andrew Bulman and Ian Rumney were all pleased with how Embrace had ran and were over the moon that he appears to back to his normal self again.
Eden Rayna finished well in third for David Clifford with Maverick not too far behind for the Dearham kennel of Joseph Abram and Nicola McMaster. He was followed home by sibling and kennel mate Rodney Raider in fifth place so hopefully signs that he is returning to form and remains sound.
The last ticket in the seniors at Moss Peteral went to Sandra Mordue’s Mr Finnegan.
Back at Buttermere the pups were being slipped and Denise was looking for a double on the night and again extending her lead in the puppy championship.
On the slipping line, unlike her kennel mate Huntsman’s Rebel, Huntsman’s Time, or Tina as she is known, looked keen to get going.
Once slipped the hounds have to navigate a tricky gate which the majority did well although Blue Striker struggled a bit to get over and lost a bit of ground.
However, once they went round the bottom of Fleetwith Pike Blue Striker had made the ground up and was leading going through with Huntsman’s Trust in second place. At this stage Huntsman’s Time was back in fifth place.
Blue Striker was starting to struggle a little as they got up to Scarth Gap with other hounds also struggling to navigate the very high bracken and find the route back down.
However once through the thickest parts and on to the trod it was Huntsman’s Time who was back in the lead and was the first to show over the last fence. She ran in well to win easily from Huntsman’s Trust in second place for Ruth and Daniel Graham with Carol and Stanley Jackson taking third this time with Croft Lady.
Good Enough finished well in fourth place, a hound which is starting to come in to his own as the season progresses and has the potential to make a good hound next year.
Thorn Soul for the Burrows and Sarah Jackson finished in fifth place with the last ticket going to the unlucky Blue Striker who has the potential to do great things but was hindered by several obstacles along the trail which always makes it interesting for Erin and Brian Rowlandson who never know just how well he might do and keeps them on their toes.
The win for Huntsman’s Time takes her to 19 and is now five points clear of Thornton who wasn’t running at Moss Peteral.
Back at Moss Peteral the pups were on the finish and it was Barry Laidler and Caroline Clough’s Snowfell who came through to win and is another hound who seems to be developing well as the season progresses.
This win was his 11th of the season and he is slowly chipping away at Thornton’s position in the table now just three points behind. Millie’s Lass and Millie’s Lad ran well on home ground for George McGimpsey and family to finish second and third with Snowfell’s sibling Minnie Million finishing in fourth place for Joy and Brian Lister.
Senorita for Malcolm Holmes finished in fifth while Paul Airey and Joanne Hodgson’s Meadow Land finished well to take sixth ticket.
Both venues had an open maiden race as their last race and at Buttermere there was a good slip of 24 hounds with a strong contingent of Foxparke runners.
As they ran round the bottom of Fleetwith Pike it was Foxparke Danny Elliot and Foxparke Dealer who had established a nice lead. However once they showed in the bottom and started to climb up both hounds ran a bit too high and took themselves out of the race letting through Geoff Higgin’s Lucky Lottie for the lead.
Both the Foxparke hounds did well to get back into the race but as they dropped in Lucky Lottie still had the advantage as they jumped the last fence and she came away to win.
Foxparke Dealer finished well in second place and Foxparke Danny Elliot did well to get third having made a mistake at the last fence.
Maeve for Christine Brownlee’s finished in fourth place with Tania Satterthwaite’s Paddy The Plasterer in fifth and the Little families Huntsman’s Delight in sixth place.
At Moss Peteral their open maiden trail saw Malcolm Holmes continuing his good night with his other hound Senor winning. Castle Callant wasn’t too far behind in second place for Marti Borthwick and Co.
Eden Romina did what she does and notched up some more points in fourth  for the open maiden points competition. At this rate she will hit the 100 point mark which hasn’t happened in the past.
The Lindsay sister’s Discover was fifth with George Burgeon and Carol Logan’s Mister Mally taking the last ticket of the night.
Action continues this week with the second meeting at Fellside tonight with the first trail slipping at a slightly earlier time of 5pm.
There is also a return to Cock How as well with their trails starting at 4.45pm.
September 10 – Moss Peteral
- Hounds – 1. Sportsman; 2. Embrace; 3. Eden Rayna; 4. Maverick; 5. Rodney Raider; 6. Mr Finnegan. 8 ran, time 29.14.
- Pups – 1. Snowfell; 2. Millie’s Lass; 3. Millie’s Lad; 4. Minnie Million; 5. Senorita; 6. Meadow Lane. 12 ran, time 24.50.
- Open Maiden – 1. Senor; 2. Castle Callant; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Discover; 5. Thorn Star; 6. Mister Mally. 13 ran, time 24.45.
Buttermere
- Hounds – 1. Huntsman’s Rebel; 2. Huntsman’s Quantum; 3. Money Talks; 4. Croft Lass; 5. Foxparke Fair Lady; 6. Thorn Thunder .14 ran, time 32.19.
- Pups – 1. Huntsman’s Time; 2. Huntsman’s Trust; 3. Croft Lady; 4. Good Enough; 5. Thorn Soul; 6. Blue Striker. 10 ran, time 22.55.
- Open Maidens – 1. Lucky Lottie; 2. Foxparke Dealer; 3. Foxparke Danny Elliot; 4. Maeve; 5. Paddy The Plasterer; 6. Huntsman’s Delight. 25 ran, time 20.04
