Hound racing had the perfect candidates for poster girls when they were looking to encourage youngsters into the sport, writes John Walsh.
The Napier family have been enthusiastic and vibrant followers of the hounds for a few years now.
Ellie is 18 and sister Grace is 13 and they have helped create the biggest set-up in the HRA with 18 hounds representing the Foxparke kennel.
In the season just ended they picked up 249 tickets, 30 of which were the red variety for wins at 20 different venues.
In fact this hasn’t been their best season – a good one by most standards – but not up to their efforts in 2023 and 2024.
As well as the tickets they also won two of the points competitions and were runners-up in another.
The spotlight this week is on their 2025 Senior Maiden Champion Foxparke Whoosh.
The partnership is down as Robyn, Ellie, Grace, and Nicola Napier and Brooke Butler (Ellie’s best friend) but Foxparke Whoosh is Grace’s pride and joy.
“She loves her to bits,” says sister Ellie, “and was absolutely delighted when she finished second in her final trail at Millstone Moor to win the title.”
She’s known as Tilly and her main rivals, for most of the season, had been Miterdale Green Queen (Jessie) for Sophie Steele, and Jake and Zach Green and Thorn Heart (Jess), for Colin Satterthwaite.
But Miterdale Green Queen won a senior trail at Lowick Show in early September and was no longer eligible for the grade so she finished up on 32 points while Jess completed her quota after she won at Uldale in August and at Dubbs Lane in October where she was left on 34 points.
So the chance to finish top was open to Tilly to claim and it all came down to the final day of the season where she needed to finish third for joint champion and second for overall champion.
Much to the delight of young Grace she finished second to claim the title.
Ellie and Grace are the third generation of the Napier family to be involved in hounds, a dynasty started by their grandmother Nicola.
“She started at where we currently still are, at Coulderton.
“The Foxparke prefix originally came from a cottage name at Seascale that was owned by Amanda Carson’s mother Jean.
“We first met Amanda when she worked at the vets and has been a very good family friend ever since. In fact she is godmother to both myself and Grace.
“Her first dog was Old Yellow and from there our mother Robyn got involved and we’ve been among them nearly before we could walk.
“Nana isn’t involved much now as since Covid she’s been involved in the butchery business.
“Mam and I work in a Seascale hotel and when we are working we are up at 4-30 to do the hounds.
“There’s a lot of work goes into them, especially as we once had 24, the most we’ve had on at one time.
“Any that don’t stay with us usually go to the Trailhound Trust to be rehomed.”
So what about Tilly, who was bred by Carole and Stanley Jackson out of their Bewitched and Denise Bland’s Huntsman’s Major and throughout the season had ticketed consistently.
She took her first ticket of the year in the grade on the 26th of May where she finished 5th at Bridekirk after that she didn’t ticket again in the grade until July 12th at the Dog Produce at Dubbs Lane End where she finished 3rd.
Tilly then finished 3rd at Mirkholme (August Premier Trails) 4th at Uldale, 3rd at Eskdale Show, 1st at Wasdale Show, 4th at Uldale, 4th at Buttermere Show, 6th at Sewing Sheilds and finally 2nd at Millstone Moor on the final day of the season.
She ticketed ten times in the grade throughout the season and ticketed at a total of nine different venues – Bridekirk, Dubbs Lane End, Mirkholme, Uldale (twice), Eskdale, Wasdale, Buttermere, Sewing Shields and Millstone Moor.
It highlighted the fact that Tilly is capable of running all terrains and venues but excels on the fell trails, a nod to her breeding.
As well as all these tickets she also finished third at the 2025 International in the Senior Maidens at Tallentire Hill, but of course International tickets do not count towards the Championship or Points competitions.
To have a Maiden champion it is essential to have a hound that will consistently ticket but not win their grade too quickly so they can gather up as many points as possible.
It’s worth noting that Tilly’s littermate Ruby also won the 2024 Senior Maiden Championship so it proves that the pair can run consistently.
Tilly has proved that she runs in any conditions, having won in the hotter weather in August with success in an Open Maiden at Wythop and also ticketed in the rain and cold weather.
Tilly had finished runner-up in the Open non-winners as a pup when she was almost always in or near to the tickets.
As a first year old dog she was actually well up in the senior maiden points and open maidens points but won her OM grade in September and her SM in October so didn’t end up with a prominent place in either.
In 2024 she had a pretty bad season with a few injuries and was just not running right but time has proved a great healer and she’s made up for it this year.
There’s always a lot of interest in the names selected by the Foxparke team for their new arrivals. Ellie says it’s a collective decision too.
So with five new Foxparkes expected to run in 2026 here’s a sneak preview of what to expect.
All are bitches three of them out of Thorn Dancer by their own Foxparke Billy Elliot and will run as Foxparke Whoop Whoop, Foxparke Wanderer and Foxparke Jiggle.
For a moment I thought the Wanderer might be a tribute to musical icon Dion, but no.
Apparently she got lost when not very old and took off – hence the Wanderer.
Foxparke One and Only is from a mating of their own pair Foxparke Palma Violet and Foxparke Billy Elliot while Foxparke Jubilee is out of Adele by Best Mate.
With a strong senior team behind them as well it looks as though the Foxparke name is going to be carried successfully again in 2026.
