The Fiftieth Renewal The Irish Kennel Club Champion Stake for Pointers & Setters was held on Kinnity Moors, Co Offaly on the last weekend of August 2008. The event was generously sponsored by Connolly’s Red Mills. The Judges for this anniversary event were Pat Rohan, Michael Houston and Tom Hayes. Both Michael and Tom have judged it before, Pat was a debutante.
The weather played a major part in this trial. First off the hill was shrouded in mist and occasional rain which delayed the start until about eleven o’clock. This had a big effect on the progress of the event. There was a full card of sixty dogs and and with a deadline of 18:30 to be met and a late start only twenty brace were run on the Saturday leaving ten brace to get their first run on Sunday. This may not be the first time that dogs have had to wait until Sunday to get their first run but nobody there could remember it happening before. Secondly the wind direction on Saturday was unhelpful and there was a lot of down wind walking required to make use of the ground. Thirdly and probably most importantly this year has been the worst trialling season that I can remember since I started nearly thirty three years ago. Of the last eight trials I attended not one made the second round due to the inclement weather and one was abandoned and another postponed and that was only the weekends. Monday to Friday hasn’t been any better and there are many areas of standing water in the lowlands where there hasn’t been standing water for decades. Now grouse may be many things but they aren’t stupid. What sensible game bird is going to sit on the high tops and be pounded by the weather. They are going to head for the relative shelter of the edges of the moor usually near trees and the ground is never good on the shoulders. To the time I left about 12:00 on Sunday I don’t think I witnessed a find in the good ground.
I have to say that this event was a disappointment for me. Not only did my own dogs fall way short of what I expect of them nearly all of the others failed to sparkle. This was in no small measure due to the ground they were having to run in in an attempt to find birds but it was still how I saw it. Ironically, even before I knew the result, I had told others that the only dogs that had floated my boat were Aidan Dunne’s Red Setter dog Jamail Adam and Paddy Collins Pointer dog Boston Jingo.
Roxy
Started of well enough but our bracemate rioted and it was difficult to pick her up. No second run.
Chris.
Started off well enough but his brace mate ran up the centre of the beat and when the judges asked for them to be put together again Ross couldn’t pick him up.
We didn’t last two minutes between us.
Results :-
1st Jamail Adam Aidan Dunne’s Irish Red Setter dog. Born Aug. ‘04 by Sheantullough Goshawk X Greg Lucky Lady Bred by E Mahony and handled by the owner
2nd Ardbru Brandy of Darnish Maurice O’Mahoney’s Pointer dog.
3rd My Rings of Phelim Neil Ryan’s English Setter dog.
The winner was graded Excellent so even though he gained his title the weekend before by winning at Galway he would have become a F.T.Ch. with this grading. 2nd & 3rd were graded Very Good.
The Most Stylish Dog in the first round went to Jim Sheridan’s Red and White Setter bitch Pallasgreen Harriett.
I don’t know exactly what makes Joe McGill tick and I can think of no bigger or more thankless a job in Irish Field Trialling, but Joe must be congratulated for the organisation of this event which included a most satisfactory dinner in Kinnity Castle.
The event wasn’t without it’s share of drama. Pat Rohan was taken unwell after the twentieth brace and at one time it was likely a medivac by helicopter would be required but he made it off the hill and was cheched out by paramedics in an ambulance. It is no disgrace to be overcome by the sheer physical effort involved in judging this trial. Pat did not take the field again on Sunday and I can only hope there is no lasting damage done.
There was of course many lighter notes and both Ross and I enjoyed the company of Daryl and Jackie Edwards, Carol Calvert, Michael Murphy, Gerald Devine and others at the dinner. The craic was ninety.
Then there was the quote of the weekend. One of the judges was obliged to use a couple of pages from his judges notebook when answering a call of nature on the hill. The sentiment was voiced, and it is attributed to Eric Lynch, that ” Never before have pages from a judges’ notebook been put to better use.”
