2 Day Open Qualifying Stake Bolton Abbey 2016
The winner FT Ch Jarailstar Rocky Road of Blackhatch handled by John Halsted
The URC 2 day 2106 was held at Bolton Abbey, near Skipton in North Yorkshire on 15th and 16th August. The trial was judged by Mike Tallamy, Sara Gadd, Lynn and Wayne Mitchell. Our hosts were the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, with the assistance of head keeper Mr Paul Wilby.
We started the first day walking up from the parked cars towards the reservoir, through ground covered in heather with patches of reeds and rough grass. The weather was glorious, not too hot with a nice breeze, which kept the midges at bay. It was very fortunate that we were using number boards because the line was quite long, stretching over undulating terrain, the boards enabling everyone to know which dog was out working. Most of the guns were local keepers who, over the two days, shot very well.
As expected the grouse provided very challenging retrieves for most dogs, the judges assessing each retrieve, some, depending on the degree of difficulty, being offered to the other end of the line. As well as grouse, rabbit and snipe were shot, the latter being particularly difficult to find in the heather.
We started the second day on a different piece of the moor, near the head keeper’s house. The Duke was particularly delighted to be utilising this section of moorland, as until recently it had been a very barren piece of land, and a lot of time and effort had gone into restoring it. We walked away from the house along a track and then lined out on the moor, walking back towards the house. The dogs on the second day were again well tested with very demanding retrieves, which saw four dogs go out on a judges' eye wipe. As the trial approached the end of the restored section of moor 3 dogs remained, eventually proving to be the award winners.
Throughout the two days, competitors and helpers commented on how fortunate we were to be given the opportunity to run our 2 day on such a fabulous ground, one had to be there to appreciate what the moorland had to offer.
The Award winners
1st FT Ch Jarailstar Rocky Road of Blackhatch handled by John Halsted
2nd Windoogpack Coral handled by Clare Baker
COM Rudby Rusty handled by Peter Orwin
Our Hosts, the Judges and the award winners
Report and further images to fiollow