2016 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Open Thread + Pick'em

[PennyAngel]

Helena Cornelius and Sam out

[PennyAngel]

Russell Whitechurch and Maggie in

[PennyAngel]

Karl Britton and Red in

[PennyAngel]

Ron Jackson and Rudy out

[PennyAngel]

Greg Playdon and Carbo in

[PennyAngel]

Russell Whitechurch and Chief in

[Elio Colasimone]

Congratulations to Penny and all the NSW organising crew for collectively pulling the strings for another successful National Retrieving Championship in what -from afar - sounded like very trying weather conditions at times for triallers, judges and organisers.
Well done to the judges Joe and Mark for their resilience and adaptability and for what seemed truly challenging runs.
Anyone who has judged at that level will attest to the demands and pressure that go hand and hand with it.
Congratulations to all who entered.
My personal observations suggest to me that the quality of performance has gone through the roof in the last 30years.
By implication it implies continuing good breeding, and perhaps improvements in skilful preparation and astute handling.
Special congrats to the finishers Russell ,Karl, John, Greg and Jack. What an effort!!
Special congratulations to Russell Whitechurch in particular.
For those with a historical bent - and unless I'm mistaken - Russell is now the most successful National Championship competitor, having won 5 Nationals - two with 'Sheep' and three with 'Chief'.
A prodigious performance indeed.
Cheers all and again well done to all involved.

[PennyAngel]

1st - R Whitechurch with Chief -404pts
2nd - K Britton with Red - 382pts
=3rd - J Stott with Sedge - 378pts
=3rd - R Whitechurch with Maggie - 378pts
5th - G Playdon with Carbo - 366pts
6th - J Lynch with Storm - 320pts

[Peter Butterfield]

RESULTS of 2016 National RT Championship

Six Finishers

1st Place - Russell Whitechruch with 14 & 15 Nat Gr RtCh_Adderslot Chief, Labrador Retriever, B, Chief, VIC - 404 pts
2nd Place - Karl Britton with Gr RtCh_Acolon Prince of Cypher (Imp UK), Labrador Retriever, D, Red, VIC - 382 pts
Equal 3rd Place - John Stott with Gr RtCh_Kadnook Dreams Edge, Labrador Retriever, B, Sedge, VIC - 378 pts
Equal 3rd Place - Russell Whitechruch with Adderslot Maggie May (AI), Labrador Retriever, B, Maggie, VIC - 378 pts
5th Place - Greg Playdon with Nat RtCh_Adderslot Carbo, Labrador Retriever, D, Carbo, VIC - 366 pts
6th finisher was Jack Lynch with Manark Autumn Storm RRD, Labrador Retriever, B, Storm, NSW

[Peter Butterfield]

2016Natlplacegettersx340pxH.jpg (80.4 KiB) Viewed 17963 times

Posted on behalf of Mr Mark Sargison...

47th National Championship Judges Report - HARDEN NSW
by Mark Sargison

Firstly, I’d like to thank the NSW National Championship Committee for offering me the opportunity to Co- Judge the 2016 47th National Retrieving Trial Championship it was truly an honour; Mr Joe Barber for agreeing to Co Judge with me; Mr W Outtrim our Reserve Judge who rang around Harden property owners to find Joe & I some usable water for the last day, and worked tirelessly throughout the National Championship. Our Trial Managers Ms Sandra Goldsmith & Ms Penny Angel who couldn’t do enough for us and made the National Championship flow. Nothing was a problem for these ladies and their organisational skills are to be commended. Our Stewards who went out in extremely trying weather without complaint, a thankless task performed professionally by all concerned. To the competitors, thank you for entering and giving me the opportunity to assess both you and your dog, it was a truly pleasurable experience. Your sportsmanship, encouragement to other competitors, patience, versatility and camaraderie is to be commended. To the Property owners, Ralph & Neroli Gerbhart, Wayne & Darren Prosser who’s properties are magnificent. I believe they are the premier retrieving trial grounds in the country, a pleasure to pick runs on, and in perfect condition.

The weather was wet and miserable for the first 2 days which called for all people involved to band together, be patient whilst the judges had to repick runs for the second & third days with the river rising several metres due to 50mm plus of rain.

The format for the Championship was Joe picked and judged 4 runs, and I did the same. I had runs 1,3,5 & 8. Both Judges, Reserve Judge & Trial Managers checked and rechecked runs with rangefinders, compasses and ran dogs over them to ensure they were within the rules and to National Championship standard.

Run 1.
A Triple Mark – Game 3 x Pigeons. 1st bird left hand side was cast right to left from behind rocks at 145m. Wind caused issues with this mark flattening it out landing in thick cover adjacent to a tree, 2nd bird right hand side was cast right to left and landed in open cover in front of boulders at 80m. 3rd middle bird was cast from a back to back thrower beside the first mark going left to right falling in light cover at 132m. A large gully plus sloping terrain along with wind and rain made this a difficult run. Pick up order was Mark 1,3,2. Only 4 dogs picked up the first mark without a handle. Plenty of handling, slipped whistles disobeyed commands and dogs hunting for themselves. Highest scoring dog was #13 Gareth Tawton & ‘Hallie’ with 51 points. Lost 14 dogs on this run.

Run 3.
A Double Blind & a Mark. Game Rabbit, Wood Duck, Pigeon. Dog was left at the starting pegs with the handler advancing to the firing point and shooting the right blind (a rabbit) behind a log at 124m., and middle blind (a wood duck) in front of a tussock at 149m, reload then call their dog. Shoot the left mark a white pigeon which projected away from the dog and fell into a basin out of sight of dog and handler in open ground with minimal cover at 78m to draw the dogs attention away as they went to retrieve the blinds in the adjacent gully. Pick up order was right blind, middle blind & left mark. Most handlers attacked the blinds and scores reflected this. Highest scoring dog was #26 Karl Britton & ‘Red’ with 57 points. Lost 2 dogs on this run with 1 dog picking up the pigeon and 1 dog running out of points.

Run 5.
Mark with Relocation, Blind & 2 Bird. Game 3 x Pigeons. Handler healed dog to firing point and shot the right hand mark cast from right to left from behind a large tree landing in medium cover at 135m. The handler then healed dog and placed it in a hide behind rocks. The handler then relocated to the next firing point and shot at a blind placed in front of a rock at the top of a gully 150m to the left of the mark; reloaded and called their dog then sent the dog for the blind. On the way back from the blind a two-bird went up from left to right landing in open ground to the right of the returning dog at 48m. All dogs sighted this bird. The relocation mark was picked up next followed by the two-bird. A number of handlers allowed their dogs out of the corridor to the blind and scored penalties accordingly. The highest scoring dog was #5 Kevin Andrews & ‘Ruby’ with 54 points. Two dogs were lost on this run with both dogs running out of points.

Run 8.
Double Blind, Poison Bird + Mark. Game middle blind plus mark Pigeon, left hand blind Black Duck and Teal Duck poison bird. The handler left the dog at starting pegs and proceeded to the firing point and shot the middle blind across edge of a large dam and several small water pools at 95m; then the left hand channel swim blind at 143m with a poison bird off-line to the left (with wind blowing left to right). The handler then reloaded, called their dog and shot the right-hand mark going away from the dog and handler slightly left to right from behind a large river gum. Pick up order - middle blind, left channel swim blind and right mark. For a lot of dogs sent for the middle blind, the right hand mark proved a large temptation as the dogs bounced off the water and were pushed towards the mark. Dogs that were kept in the water on the channel swim blind showing me they were under control scored well. Only 2 dogs nailed the mark, Jack Lynch & ‘Storm’ as well as Russell Whitechurch & ‘Chief’. Highest scoring dog was #34 Russell Whitechurch & ‘Chief’ with 50 points. Six dogs were lost on this run who had slipped numerous whistles, disobeyed commands or decided to go hunting for themselves paying no attention to their handlers.

Congratulations to the 6 handlers & dogs that completed the NSW 47th National Retrieving Trial Championship. I truly enjoyed judging your dogs.

1st Russel Whitechurch & Chief - 404 points.
2nd Karl Britton & Red - 382 points.
Equal 3rd John Stott & Sedge - 378 points.
Equal 3rd Russel Whitechurch & Maggie - 378 Points.
5th Greg Playdon & Carbo - 366 points.
6th Jack Lynch & Storm - 320 points.

Yours in Retrieving
Mark Sargison.

[PennyAngel]

THAT the Board accepts the recommendation of the Dogs NSW RAFT Committee that a count back of scores be undertaken for Dogs 10 & 22 to ensure consistency with ANKC Ltd Rules for the Conduct of Retrieving Trials for Gundogs and, therefore, the final Result of the 47th Retrieving National Championship conducted by Dogs NSW on 9, 10 & 11 September 2016 be as follows:-



Place Catalogue No. Name of Dog Owner

1st 34 Labrador (B) 14 & 15 Nat Gr Rt Ch Adderslot Chief Russell Whitechurch
2nd 26 Labrador (D) Gr Rt Ch Acolon Prince of Cypher (Imp UK) Karl Britton
3rd 22 Labrador (B) Adderslot Maggie May (AI) RRD Russell Whitechurch
4th 10 Labrador (B) Rt Ch Kadnook Dreams Edge John Stott
5th 29 Labrador (D) Nat Rt Ch Adderslot Carbo Greg Playdon
6th 43 Labrador (B) Manark Autumn Storm RRD Jack Lynch