|
 THE HTA Premier trails on Saturday will see the popular Snow Hill venue used again following last season’s October staging.
Huntsman’s Dazzler will be expected to go close in the senior trail after winning there in the October Trails, and he certainly needs all the victories he can muster to stay in the title race.
Quiet Swallow (pictured winning at St. Helena) won the pups ten months ago and has been noted in recent trails running well but the disappointment then was the open restricted trail, which attracted 26 runners but was declared void.
Hopefully there will be no similar disappointments on Saturday and that the weather is kind to attract the numbers that this sort of event deserves.
There will be a Tipster Competition at Snow Hill on Saturday - enter on the day by 1.30.
This is the fourth trail in the HTA points series, and the leaders are: Tagget 12, Altanic 11, Dairy Singer, Desire and Night Spirit 10, Huntsman's Dazzler, Small Print, Westgate Gypsy and Tiagress 9, Habana 8, Endurance, Spot On and Halloween 7.
Show Girl might have a lot to do to retain her crown but the way she has come back from injury suggests she can go very close – as last Wednesday’s win at Cold Fell illustrated.
She had been spotted in third place behind Dairy Diamond and Dizzee Rascal but when they approached the business end of the contest there was no doubt as to who was going to win.
The champion had pulled nicely clear of last year’s puppy champion with Valhalla coming through to take third place.
Plenty of youngsters were in with a chance of taking the puppy trail after Ryan’s Lady Anna had done a lot of the donkey work.
She led on the finish but Medwyn came with a great late rattle to take the lead and despite a brave attempt by Ryan’s Lady Anna to get back into it she couldn’t get there and had to settle for second ahead of close-up Border River - pictured. 
Spot On and Butterfly had a great battle to the line in the maidens with never much between them. Spot On just got the verdict by a neck with Dixie Moon finishing in third place.
Kevin and Penny Swanton completed a double in the last when Some Girl won the open restricted. She was prominent throughout and started to pull away in the closing stages from her neatest rival Linsdale with Sunlight back in third place.
At Ambleside Sports on Thursday Huntsman's Dazzler came absolutely on his own in the senior trail and he was virtually the length of the finish clear at the line.
Gentle Lady, who had been running well early in the season before injury struck, ran her best race for a while with an encouraging second and Mayfair took third.
 The senior maidens went to Pawley, Burrow, Hodgson and Bell's Davina who had shown to be handy or out in front, and when they came into view for the last time she had Roulette to beat.
It was Davina (pictured with Lynn Pawley) who finished the best and at the line she had three or four yards on her rival with Temptation back in third.
Only eight youngsters contested the puppy trail and although it looked to have developed into a two-hound race one of them missed-out on the finish and had to settle for third.
Jacob McClink and Colleen were the ones in question but before the reached the road the former seemed to have trouble with a boulder and pulled-up. Colleen went on and despite being side-tracked by spectators managed to see out her race and cross the line out in front. Da Look made up ground to get second place and Jacob McClink finally sorted himself out to get third.
Lisa and Edward Crosby's Temperance came well clear in the puppy maidens and won by a distance ion the end as the 13 starters were well and truly split-up.
Temperance was almost dried off by the time the second hound Colourful crossed the line while Grange Torres came in to grab third.
The Denise Bland and Denis Barrow partnership completed a kennel double in the last, the open graded, when their veteran Huntsman’s Ruler finished really well to beat Team Spirit, who had also come through well from fourth place on the run in to beat Gigolo.
They also raced at Dean on Thursday where Darling continued her flow of recent wins, finishing well to beat My Girl with plenty to spare.
Angel made a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure when she took the puppy trail in a small field of seven. Starting to find her feet again the table leader won nicely from Pot Look.
The open restricted saw White Diamond head a field of 14 runners with Elessar doing well to finish second ahead of Brannigan.
July has been a hugely successful month for the Swanton’s Kendal kennel and the run was continued at the Cockermouth Show trails staged at Bridekirk on Saturday when they collected another double.
It was initiated by table leader Darling in the senior trail who took advantage of a mistake by nearest challenger Dairy Diamond to go on and win well by 20 yards. Last year’s puppy champion recovered to take second ahead of Mayfair.
The double was achieved in the fifth and final trail which saw Some Girl (pictured) take the veterans from last year’s joint champion Sophisticated Lady. The winning margin was thirty yards or so with Calzaghe third of the 13 runners. 
In between were the senior maidens, the pups and the puppy maidens which all produced thrilling finishes.
Best of all was the pups when the two leaders couldn’t be separated and a dead heat was declared.
Several of the youngsters came onto the finish with a winning chance before it became a straight fight between, Alan Blacklock's Blackbird and Joe and Nessa Simpson's Nike.
There was nothing in it on the line as the camera confirmed sop both were able to record their second open successes of the season. Cracking Sunset finished in third place.
The Simpson’s had initiated their kennel double in the senior maidens when Truthful got some help from the cows in the last field as the leading pair Rhinestone Cowboy and Davina were impeded and had to slow down.
Truthful made-up ground well to go to the front but a faltering finish almost allowed Davina to get back into the contest. Another look in the camera, however, revealed that Truthful had prevailed by a head.
The camera wasn’t needed in the puppy maidens but it was still a keenl;y contested finish.
True Blue had made-up a lot of ground in the closing stages to shade the lead but Studholme & Louise Lyttleton's Waver Lady, who had been prominent throughout, dug deep to come back at her rival and edge away in the final few strides to win by three yards. Thorn Boy wasn’t far behind in third.
 Calebreak had a very good turn out on Sunday and Show Girl (pictured) notched another victory on her crusade to peg back the deficit on the senior table leaders – but it was a close affair.
Halloween had led over the top and down the fell, but was overtaken on the rougher ground by Show Girl and High Challenge. The camera was needed before Show Girl was declared the winner by a short head, with Halloween just a few yards back in third place.
There was an exciting finish to the puppy trail, with Border River coming away strongly over the last few yards to beat Endurance and Blackbird by five yards.
Border River is a much improved pup, and is trained by Lloyd Saunders for Dot Walker. This was her first open win, and follows hard on the heels of her open non winners success at Kirkstone and a very good third in a puppy trail at Cold Fell.
There was a good open maiden finish which saw Dixie Moon just finishing ahead of Roulette and Spot On – all three having finished among the tickets in recent trails.
In the open restricted Ms Dynamite finally got her act together on the finish after promising much and delivering little. This time she beat Sundown by a few lengths with all the ticket hounds close behind.
The trails were at Kentmere on Monday where the senior finish concerned former puppy champion Habana and last year’s Bitch Produce winner Desire.
The pair had a superb contest on the finish and as the lead changed hands several times it was difficult to forecast the outcome but finally Desire just edged far enough in front to cross the lone as the winner. Only about three quarters of a length separated them at the finish. Huntsman’s Chance took third place.
Tagget and Huntsman's Future were the main contenders in the conclusion to the puppy trail and there wasn’t much in it at first. But Tagget, this year’s Bitch produce winner, stuck to her task the better of the two and had three yards in hand at the line. Nike finished third.
The open restricted brought proceedings to an end with a former Bitch Produce winner taking the honours.
Negress showed in front at the right time after going past the faltering Huntsman’s Ruler and always had the edge on Toytown in the run to the line, getting home by a couple of lengths. Jordan’s Tyke was third.
Tuesday’s meeting at Parsonby was very disappointing, so much so that the last trail for the open maidens was cancelled.
There was a very classy field of 12 for the seniors but none of them got round. Some ended-up on the Bridekirk trail finish; others came back while some, including former champion Westgate Kyza were picked-up. Champion leader Darling and last year’s puppy champion Dairy Diamond were among the runners in the void trail.
Aspatria Area official Dickie Smithson said: “We just don’t know what happened. We heard they were running well outside and then they just seemed to disappear.
“Only three of the nine pups got round, in four minutes longer than we would have expected and as we were already running half an hour late and unsure of what was causing the problem, we called-off the last trail. We could have had dogs out all night if we had run it but every hound was accounted for from the first two trails.”
Angel continued her renaissance by winning the puppy trail by four yards from Da Look with the only other finisher Big Mac not far behind in third.
Things were smoother at St. Helena where Quiet Swallow had a good win in the seniors, suggesting she might be ready for a big run at Snow Hill on Saturday. She beat No Chance by four lengths with Amy Jo in third.
Medwyn (pictured with John Palmer) is one of the form hounds in the Association at the moment and added to her tally and reputation in the pups, beating Enoch and Night Spirit in nice style.
Butterfly came from second place in the open maidens to beat Quiet Swift by a length with Delahoya back in third.
The all-in was won in fast and convincing fashion by Alles Springs who finished a distance clear of Linsdale and Foxparke Tiddleywink.
It’s been fairly quiet in the Whitehaven Area recently but here are the latest points situations.
CASH FOR POINTS
1, Medwyn 97; 2, Miss Molly 93; 3, Ryan's Lady Anna 82; 4, Sawdust 66;
5, Angel and Hot Fuss 57; 7, Chardonnay 55; 8, Molly Malone 54; 9, Da Look 53;
10, Night Spirit 48; 11, Justify 45; 12, Shiraz 44; 13, Altanic 37; 14, Pot Look 34.
SENIORS
1, Miss Molly 93; 2, Alliance 71; 3, Cinnabar and Hot Fuss 57; 5, Chardonnay 55; 6, Molly Malone 54.
PUPS
1 Medwyn 97 2 Ryan' Lady Anna 79 3 Sawdust 59 4 Angel 57
5 Quiet Lass 56 6 Da Look 53.
SATURDAYS
1 Miss Molly 40 2 Alliance 34 3 Hot Fuss 4 Ryan's Lady Anna 22 5 Sawdust 21
6 Medwyn 20
VETERANS
1 Sophisticated Lady 2 Labrini 10 3 Pollyanna 8 4 Duet 6 5 Linsdale 5
6 Lone Star & One Man 5
OPEN RESTRICTED
1 Mang Nix 25 2 Newtown Clover 24 3 Amy Jo 18 4 Lone Star 15 5 Alles Springs & Whitby Steps 14.
OPEN MAIDENS
1 Calzaghe 20 2 Butterfly 20 3 Red Pyke 18 4 Celtic Warrier 16
5 Tower Lass 15 6 Harmony 14.
O.N.W.
1 F/P Traveller 10 2 Denial 7 3 Birkby Black & Ruby 5 5 Divot 4
6 Mitredale Craghopper 3
PUPPY MAIDENS
1 Nike Ryan's Lad & Sawdust 6 4 Bingo 5 Momentom 4 6 Border River & Romulus 3
MAIDENS
1 Jealousy & Roulette 6 3 Relentless & Temptation 5 Sparrowmire Jill 4
5 Davina & Gendarme 3
WITHOUT A WIN
1 Chardonnay 55 2 Sweet Pea 27 3 Delahoya & ed Pyke 26 5 Lady Anna Ryan's 23 6 Bluebird 22.
MAL WALKER produced the action pictures at Cold Fell and St. Helena while MARGARET BAXTER provided the portraits.
Results in the Border Association have been as follows:-
Tuesday 27th July, Spadeadam Farm.
Seniors: 1, Tune; 2, Trust; 3, Spring Dream; 4, Bantry Bay; 5, Port Magee. 5 ran, time 25.06.
Pups: 1, Eagle Heart; 2; Spring Rambler; 3, Spring Rhythm; 4, Spring Roamer; 5, Dynamic; 6, Delta Disco. 9 ran, time 16.42.
Open Graded: 1, Fire Ranger; 2, Castle Cairn; 3, Houxty Bank; 4, Castle Corrie; 5, Lauren's Gift; 6, Fire Dream. 9 ran, time 16.10.
Open Maidens: 1, Amber Salsa; 2, Amber Gem; 3, Lakeland Mist; 4, Skylark; 5, Jedi; 6, Peter. 11 ran, time 16.21.
Friday 30th July, Langholm Common Riding.
Seniors: 1, Trust; 2, Prancer; 3, Houxty Bank; 4, Jackpot; 5, Tune; 6, Castle Corrie.
23 ran, time 30.23.
Sunday 1st August, Sewingshields.
Seniors: 1, Prancer; 2, Trust; 3, Farm Time; 4, Jackpot; 5,Telltale; 6, Spring Dream.
9 ran, time 26.18.
Senior Graded: 1, Fire Ranger; 2, Mandesha; 3, Lauren's Gift; 4, Summer Virtue; 5, Houxty bank; 6, Spring Midget. 14 ran, time 26.52.
Pups: 1, Spring Rambler; 2, Dynamic; 3, Spring Roamer; 4, Gizmo; 5, Eagle Heart; 6, Lotto. 7 ran, time 16.57.
Puppy Graded: Delta Diva, Delta Disco dead heat, 3, Spring Rhythm; 4, Castle Piper; 5, Class Lass. only five finished, 6 ran, time 17.52.
Veterans: 1, Fire Dream; 2, Skylark; 3, Delta Dancer; 4, Delta Star; 5, Jedi; 6, Peter. 7 ran, time 17.26.
|
News
News Feeds
