Cashel Field Trials – Open – Pointer & Setter – Saturday 8th August 2009.

Cashel Field Trials ran an Open Stake for Pointers and Setters at The Cut, near Kinnity Co Offally under IKC trial Rules and Regulations. Judges for the day were Fr. Seamus O’Neill and Vincent Flannelly. The day started off with thick mist but it was starting to clear by trial time and even though it continued to threaten rain of the rest of the morning by the late evening, at the end of the stake it was beautifully sunny.
We started off in heavy ground and birds were available to the first brace but flushed. There was only one find in the book by the end of the first ten brace but when we went out after dinner birds started to show on the higher ground. None of the ground is what you could call easy running but the dogs in the afternoon had the better ground.
Results :-
1st Lisdovogue Aileen Pat Reape’s Red Setter bitch.
2nd Corrigmore Duke Patsy McCarthy’s Pointer dog.
3rd My Rings of Felim Neil Ryan’s English Setter dog.
First and Second graded Excellent 3rd place Very Good (Snipe).
So near yet so far for Patsy as I believe that is now five excellent graded second places that he has with that dog.
Difficult for me to say too much about this trial as there were sections I didn’t see. I saw dogs working hard but failing to sparkle in the heavy ground. To my mind scent was good in the afternoon but several chances were squandered. Perhaps dogs really working to cover heavy ground can’t fully concentrate on their nose but I know the flushes I saw would have left me sick as a pig. By the time I got back to the car it was after six. It took me forty minutes to unpitch the tent and the trial was still running at that time when Jay and I left.
Whatever the result the judges have to be commended for their unstinting efforts, Paddy Collins for knowing where to go and Tom Hayes who organises these events for the club and makes it all look deceptively easy.