Thursday saw the last of the trails at Fellside this year and it was a wet and cold night for the finale.
There wasn’t a bad slip in the senior hounds with 15 of them running and last time round the course it was Willie and Daphne Mark’s Sportsman that gained the upper hand over Laura Steele, Andrew and Joel Bulman’s and Ian Rumney’s Embrace.
Both dogs were back out running with Embrace probably showing the most improvement over the last couple of weeks.
There was no Rodney Raider or Silver Dream from the Dearham kennel of Joseph Abram and Nicola McMaster, with them opting to run Maverick and Silver Streak.
Huntsman’s Rebel was running for Denise and Co as the team was looking for her to pull a point back and level things up again with Silver Dream in the race for the championship title.
Fellside has limited viewing of the hounds running with most of the trail taking place on the open fell out of sight. Once back onto the finish it was Embrace who showed first with a nice lead and he came in to win the race from Mel for Les Reid and Ellie Napier.
Mel has been off for a couple of weeks so all in all she had ran a good race to earn second place.
Border Reign for Annabelle Connolly finished well in third place followed home by Strawberry Mick for Graham Reid. The fancied Sportsman only managed to get fifth with the sixth ticket going to Neil and Gillian Brown’s and Derek and Joel Bulman’s Hey Mac.
Huntsman’s Rebel was unplaced along with the Dearham duo, so no change at the top of the senior Championship table.
The open pups were next with a slip of 17 and among them was Huntsman’s Time for Denise Bland and co. She leads the table but worryingly for Denise has just not finished as well as she used to over the last few races.
Last time round Fellside it was kennelmate Huntsman’s Trouble who took the first ticket followed closely by Come Fly With Me and Minnie Million.
All of them were out again and when they showed on the finish it was a good race with plenty of hounds in with a chance.
As predicted Huntsman’s Trouble came in front but was accompanied by Millie’s Lass who can also finish.
As they neared the line it was Millie’s Lass for George McGimpsey and Gillian and Millie Telford who got the better of her rival, running on the trod and coming on well for the win. The little hound has definitely matured and improved as the season has progressed.
Huntsman’s Trouble had to settle for second place while Come Fly With Me claimed third ticket to continue much improved performances for the Chisholm family.
There was only a yard between the last three ticketing hounds with Senorita for Malcolm Holmes in fourth; table leader Huntsman’s Time in fifth and one of her main rivals Thornton claiming sixth.
The open maiden race was next with 12 runners and Eden Romina was among them, now only four points short of hitting the 100 point mark. The favourite was Inspect for the Lindsay sisters.
As they showed on the finish and climbed back up it was indeed Inspect who came away to win nicely with Malcolm Holmes’ other hound Senor taking second. The consistent Eden Romina finished in third place and in doing so earned those four points that she needed to get to one hundred.
It’s quite a remarkable total for the little hound and demonstrates how consistent she has been in notching up points throughout the season.
Thorn Heart for Colin Satterthwaite finished in fourth place with Debbie and Lana McGee’s Apache Brave taking fifth. The last ticket of the night went to the Littles’ Huntsman’s Delight.
On Saturday there’s a five race meeting hosted by Eskdale Show with the first trail starting at 2.15pm while on Sunday the Border Supporters annual Cancer Charity trails taking place at Carret Rigg, just north of Carlisle, with the addition of trophies, pink rosettes and additional prize money on offer.
September 26 – Fellside
- Hounds – 1. Embrace; 2. Mel; 3. Border Reign; 4. Strawberry Mick; 5. Sportsman; 6. Hey Mac. 15 ran, time 26.58.
- Pups – 1. Millie’s Lass; 2. Huntsman’s Trouble; 3. Come Fly With Me; 4. Senorita; 5. Huntsman’s Time; 6. Thornton. 17 ran, time 20.42.
- Open Maiden- 1. Inspect; 2. Senor; 3. Eden Romina; 4. Thorn Heart; 5. Apache Brave; 6. Huntsman’s Delight. 12 ran, time 20.29.
