The Irish Red & White Setter Club held it’s second Open Stake on Saturday 1st September 2007 under Irish Kennel Club Field Trial Rules and Regulations. The venue was the Liffey Head by kind permission of Duchas. (Irish Heritage Service) The judges were Paddy Peoples and Pat Rohan. There was a nice breeze for most of the day but it would drop away if you ended up in a depression. The day was mostly dry with a few spots of mizzle in the morning. Again there were a large number of withdrawals leaving only eleven brace to take the field. I saw all but the last couple of brace of the first round and all the dogs I saw ran well, but one. As luck would have it the only find of the first round was in the last few brace so I didn’t see it but it served no purpose as the dog in question took into larks in the second round and was eliminated. The outstanding dog of the first round was my friend Ned Butler’s Red Setter bitch, Erin, Bellona of Rome. Her quartering and pace were top notch, as was her second round and a run she got in a second round extension.
Six brace made the cut and the trial really got going with a number of birds seen and some made use of. Pat Dooley’s bitch, Darnish Starbright had a find in exactly the same place as she found birds to win the Pointer Club Open. Shortly after Michael Murphy was involved with birds. From where I was it was a definite case of bird up dog down but my opinion doesn’t count, only the judges’. Judy also had a find on a pair but it went unseen by both myself and the judges, only a few of the gallery witnessing it.
Judy
Ran well in the first round in some initially broken ground. While she ran with a bit of gusto she also checked a couple of scents, namely deer chips and a snipe haunt and this did disrupt her flow but she was beauitfully flat and wide and she held her own speed wise with Gerald Devine’s Lefanta Tinka but mainly due to neater work rather than raw pace. I was really pleased with her second round. We had wide open spaces to work with and wide and flat she certainly was. As I said above apparently she did have a find which I missed while drawing her point to the judge’s attention but that’s just one of those things. I will have to sharpen up her turning and hope for a few snipe to tune in her nose.
Results.
1st Darnish Starbright Pat Dooley’s Pointer bitch. (Now F.T.Ch.)
2nd F.T.Ch. Knock Dante Michael Murphy’s Pointer dog.
Both graded excellent.
All in all a good day showing Irish dogs doing what they do best, run hard to find a few birds. There were the usual hard luck stories but it has ever been so.
