Judy is a small dog but nobody has told her yet. You can see from the photo that sitting she isn’t much bigger than one of the trophies. Shaun gets the blame for this one. Of all the dogs available for Freckles he chose Jump who back then was a hooligan as to all intents and purposes was Freckles. I took two pups, Zico, Voodoo Lounge and Judy, Exile on Main Street. Both were good young dogs. Zico being slightly bigger had a bit more go but there wasn’t much between them. What Judy lacks in stature she makes up for in drive. When she gets a bit of regular schooling she quarters very flat and even and she is excellent on her birds though she loves pheasants, just couldn’t eat a whole one. Truly wild pheasants aren’t a problem but recently released ones better be quick.
If you consider that Jump is her father it really isn’t surprising that Judy can go but having said that she can tend to struggle in really tall heather, the sort we really shouldn’t be running trials in. She also has problems with the Liffey Head where there are all those du lochs and pools. She seems to think she can jump all but the biggest so she disappears into the water to emerge at the other side with her hind legs churning like a 4 X 4 looking for grip and off she sails. I am really fond of this wee dog (19 ins. at shoulder) as she has never let me down when it comes to effort. In 2005 she was running consistently well and eventually got a third at the Breffnei and Oriel Open Stake thus qualifying for opens. ‘06 was another good year with a lot of good runs and she won the Wicklow & Wexford Open but was marked down, I thought harshly, and only got “Very Good”. Her runnig was immaculate that day too.
Judy is nicknamed The Weasle. She isn’t a cross dog and doesn’t start fights, except with Roxy who she loaths, but she is a wicked article if riled and just refuses to let go once she has bitten. I don’t know, in truth I doubt, if she will ever be made up but it is a privelege to work with Judy as she has a sense of humour and brains to boot. In addition she was mated to Luke to give me Bess, Cuan Black Bess. Judy was an improvement on Freckles and it looks like Bess will be an improvement on Judy so we are heading in the right direction.
