The winner Jofless Epaulette of Shadowbrae, owned and handled by Thomas Bushby.
The URC Open Qualifying Stake for AV Retrievers was held on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st October 2023 at Bowhill Estate, Selkirk by kind permission of Mr Stuart Riddell.
Our judges were Mr Richard Beckerleg, Mr Wayne Mitchell, Mr Graham Slater and Mr Kevin Haynes. Many thanks to them for so generously giving up their time; and for their expertise in managing a superbly run trial, along with the Steward of the Beat, Mr Stewart Riddell.
Our event was supported by a great team of Guns with an enthusiastic interest in, and knowledgeable appreciation of the dogs’ work. A massive thank you to them for shooting for us, and to Kevin for organising the team.
We were also well supported by a slick group of experienced helpers for the two days, URC Parent Body and Northern Area Committee members: Caron Chattwood, Stuart Allmark, Nick Aubrey, Penny Aubrey, Sarah Kirby and Rachael Pugh-Lewis. Our Chief Steward was Mrs Jennie Dimmock; grateful thanks to each of them.
Day 1 began walking up across steeply sloping ground with rough cover of white grass and bracken. There was persistent rain with brisk winds. The gallery watched from high on the hill, what an incredible view of proceedings they had. Retrieves of partridge and pheasant were picked, some from within and across a deep, steep sided gully. This proved to be very tough work for both dogs and handlers: eighteen progressed into Round 2, and at the completion of that round and the conclusion of the day, eight dogs had survived and were taken through to Day 2.
Day 2 was fine with a light breeze; the line walked up again on a steep slope of rough cover, with woodland and a high stone wall below on the left. Several dogs were sent to retrieve from the wood, jumping the wall and going out of sight of the handlers. It was very challenging and testing work for both the dogs and handlers; and those in line again enjoyed a wonderful position from which to watch some fantastic dogs working on fantastic ground. How lucky we were!
The award winners
At the announcement of trial over, four dogs remained. The results were as follows:
The Stourhead Challenge Trophy, The Rank Challenge Trophy and The Ballyfrema Trophy were awarded to the winner:
Jofless Epaulette of Shadowbrae, owned and handled by Thomas Bushby.
Also awarded to Thomas was the Jericho Trophy for Guns’ Choice.
The Lambdale Trophy was awarded to the runner-up:
Stauntonvale Margay of Rushbrigg , owned and handled by Sam Morley-Riches.
3rd Texacali Praline of Meonvalley, owned and handled by Sarah Miles.
4th FtCh Laggengill Dawn of Blackgrass, owned and handled by Leigh Jackson
Many congratulations from everyone at URC to all those in the awards; and our very best wishes for a successful Championship to Thomas!
This was the final trial of a very successful 2023/24 season for URC. It has been a pleasure for us to visit five wonderful grounds across the country; meet hosts, keepers and their teams, guns and judges; plus a small army of fantastic helpers from all corners of the URC. And of course, we’ve enjoyed meeting up with all the handlers who ran their dogs in our trials, and appreciated their sporting spirit and camaraderie throughout the season.
The award winners and judges