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IGL RETRIEVER CHAMPIONSHIP
Delfleet Neon is the
shining light at Cawdor
There was high drama of Shakespearian proportions at yet another
brilliant retriever championship, this year held at the Cawdor Estate,
lnverness-shire, for the very first time. Patrice Fellows was there ...
Photography: Glyn Satterley
he three weird sisters
T
in Macbeth foreteil of
impending disaster with
the chant. "Fair is foul, and
foul is fair." If fate had any hand in
IGL's 2012 Retriever Championship
- held for the first time at Cawdor,
Proud to sponsor
The IGL Retriever
Champions hip
just north of Inverness- it served
only to ensure an overwhelmingly
positive outcome: clement weather
and superb presentation of game,
shooting and gundog work over
three days. And thanks to Roddy
Forbes, Cawdor's commercial shoot
manager, dogs and game came first,
but the gallery wasn't far behind.
Spectators were presented with an
unforgettable tableau of challenging
retrieves that reached both high and
low, resonant with the emotions of
Shakespeare's ageless drama.
Magic and vision
Roddy Forbes was central to this
achievement. He began planning
the event five years ago: bringing
it this far north for the first time
meant not only moving the dates
David Latham with FTCh Delfleet Neon of Fendawood, the 2012
forward one week, but disrupting
Retriever Champion and winner of the Glen Kidston Challenge Cup.
the whole field trial calendar. As a
land and water, Cawdor offered a
former IGL Championship judge
and top handler. he meticulously
His plan was fully supported by
the Earl of Cawdor ?nd the Dowager
planned the occasion from every
angle, even planting new mixed root
crops in the lower grounds for two
Countess, whose magical castle
perched between the Monadhliath
Mountains and Moray Firth displays
team of 10 guns including several
gamekeepers and some of the
of the three days. "I wanted to bring
the motto 'Be Mindful', a fitting
best shots in Scotland, ensured his
the best dogs up here to show the
expression for the care and detail
Highlanders what we can- and
should- do," he said. The fact many
believed it couldn't be pulled off
that went into planning every aspect
of the event. With 60.000 acres of
managed land devoted to farming,
forestry and sporting pursuits on
planning was executed impeccably.
The team of beaters and their
never swayed him from his vision.
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FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETIE.CO.UK
unique arena. Likewise, Roddy's
son and head keeper, Fraser. plus a
spaniels played a crucial role too,
tirelessly flushed game across root
crops, barley and steep banks.
Right: Runner-up FTCh Jarail
Star Rocky Road of Blackhatch
44 labradors and two golden
retrievers on the field.
brings back his final retrieve.
As in the past few years. the
strength of yellow labradors was
increasingly evident; seven of the
14 dogs who sat at the drive on the
second day were yellow. and on the
final day the card was split between
five yellows and four blacks. FTCh
Delfleet Neon of Fendawood. who
Main picture: On the third day
was also Retriever Champion in
the championship resumed as
a walk-up in mixed crops
2010. is the only yellow Iabrador to
date to win the title.
behind Wester Urchany farm.
The rise and fall
Roddy's vision was complemented
by the experience of the judges.
The top three dogs competed neck
and neck until their last retrieves. a
All four qualified as top handlers
vivid testimony to John Halstead's
in previous championships.
comment about past championships
Greig Paterson and Phi I Parkins,
meanwhile, also served as judges
that the dogs had been given "every
chance to rise and fall."
Any of the three could have
at Sandringham in 2003 and
Windsor in 2007 respectively. Linda
won. but FTCh Delfleet Neon of
Partridge gained awards in the last
Fendawood. owned and handled
two championships with her current
by David Latham. upheld the
highest standards with seven clean
retrieves. Precision and consistency
also distinguished Neon when he
"Spectators were
presented with
an unforgettable
tableau of highly
testing retrieves:'
won the 2010 IGL Championship
at Sandringham. With this third
victory, having previously won at
Sandringham in 2003 with FTCh
Field Trial Champion. and Graham
Cox added insight as a longstanding
member of the IGL Committee and
Drakeshead Deana. David Latham
joins the ranks of six other historic
three-time winners. Only John
journalist who has covered every
Halstead and Lady Hill Wood have
championship since 1984.
won more times - on four occasions.
Exceptional line-up
Rocky Road of Blackhatch, owned
by Cherry Finlan. also upheld high
John Halsted's FTCh Jarail Star
The card itself showed quality in the
field and another strong connection
to past championships. Among the
standards. but an error in the
delivery of one of his last retrieves
49 qualifiers. no fewer than 39 had
meant he could finish no higher than
already attained their working titles
and of those, five had the distinction
second. Throughout the trial Jarail
demonstrated a careful balance
of qualifying twice or three times
over. John Halsted, extraordinarily,
between control and initiative. His
work elicited enthusiastic applause
was handling three of them and two
of the five would finish in the top two.
more than once from the gallery.
especially on the second day. On
his first retrieve. Jarail eye-wiped
Males dominated: there were 39
another dog when sent from the
dogs and 10 bitches. including that of
Phil Parkins who cou ld not compete.
Ages ranged from two to nine years.
right of the line across a barley field
to pick a bird that had fallen in an
with an average age of four. When the
first shot was fired. there were
area of rough grass. On his second
retrieve across the river Find horn.
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IGL RETRIEVER CHAMPIONSHIP
Irish competitor Thomas Hughes (second from left), who ran IR FTCh
Four satisfied judges at the end of the trial. From left: Graham Cox,
Apache Joe, in conversation at Wester Urchany farm.
Greig Paterson, Linda Partridge & Phi I Parkins.
Jarail quickly crossed the water to
turnip - with views to the right of
that had fallen in front of the line to
river Findhorn to Tirfogrean. where
pick a bird that had fallen above the
road on the opposite bank. again with
Moray Firth and the Ross-shire hills
beyond. Conditions were cold and
the line spread across a picturesque
bank of rank heather punctuated
with outcrops of rock. rough grass
a minimum of whistle, plus quick.
wet, but towards mid-morning the
the left.
Three times over the course of the
first round. four dogs were sent for
tidy work once he reached the area.
late-November sun illuminated a
a bird that had fallen into the thick
and mauve-tinted birch trees. The
Perhaps the two most dramatic
retrieves on the second day were
swath of yellow rape flowers and
a red barge docked at sea. Judges
and unevenly spaced root crops,
resulting in a first dog failure when
gallery, positioned at the edge of a
golden barley field, had a panoramic
made by the dog that took third
place. Jayne Coley's FTCh Waterford
Greig Patterson and Graham Cox
were paired on the right. while Linda
the judges couldn't find the bird
view of the line as it advanced
Ganton. For his first retrieve. Ganton
also crossed the line in the barley
field to pick a partridge that had
Partridge and Phil Parkins sent dogs
from the left. The 10 guns were
either. In a similar scenario. at the
end of the day four dogs were sent ·
for a partridge that had fallen along a
forward on the colourful bank against
the backdrop of a leaden grey sky.
Several dogs made excellent
small mound about 30 metres ahead
single retrieves as birds fell ahead
of the line. The third dog sent. Kirsty
in the rough cover of the steep
work out of sight to find the bird. He
repeated a similar performance later
at the river Findhorn: immediately
"FTCh Delfleet Neon
never wavered: he
executed three
tidy retrieves with
flawless delivery:'
after a mini drive. he was sent to the
interspersed along the line with
far right bank. where he had marked
the fall of a rt,~n n ing partridge.
three handlers of spaniels flushing at
a bag of 65 pheasants and partridge
either end and in the middle.
Game rose steadily as the line
and one hare - more than half the
progressed. and judges tried as
much as possible to send dogs for
competitors to contest the
second day. As well as eye-wipes
birds shot by their own guns. In the
and first dog failures. a worrying
tall cover many dogs found it difficult
number of dogs had committed
eliminating faults.
fallen across two fences into a lowlying border area. Jay ne Coley was
unable to see her dog and he had to
Ganton owned the scent and
followed it along the low bank into
clumps of broom. emerging minutes
later with the wounded bird in
mouth. Both times he demonstrated
peerless initiative and gamefinding
Cousins' Golden FTCh Gortons Red
bank, not least John Halsted's FTCh
Ruby Rascal, thoroughly searched
Emmanygan Ramble. who found and
the area. but to no avail. Graham Cox
picked the bird by hand, and all four
dogs were eye-wiped by the judges.
immediately picked a bird that had
fallen beyond a line of birches after
At the end of the first day -with
dogs had gone. leaving just 21
ability: but his seeming priority was
to mark and scent game, and their
competitors were often unable to
compromised by the sloppy retrieve
of a strong cock bird at the close.
handle their animals. Towards midmorning, John Halsted's FTCh Asterix
Toil and trouble
Aguzannis of Chatsworth performed
a stunning eye-wipe of three other
The first morning of the
dogs when he successfully picked
championship had kicked off at
9.30 with a walk-up from Wester
the first of two pheasants shot ahead
of the line on the right. Fourth place
Alan Rountree, ex-Kennel
Club FT chairman, ran lab
Urchany farm heading south-west
across deep mixed root crops
- predominantly rape, kale and
winner FTCh Emmawood Drake.
owned and handled by Mike Rolland.
also made a good job of a runner
lnt FTCh Waterford
Edward on the
first two days.
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FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETIE.CO.UK
Highland drama
On Tuesday morning the card of 21
labradors took a short walk from
Drynachan Lodge across the
The excellent team of guns on days one and three. From left: James Chester, Brian Forbes, lan Robertson, Fraser Forbes, Ed Gormanly,
Davie Taylor, les Maclean, John Castle, Charles Munro & Christopher Green.
of rust-coloured bracken. lichen
The drama continues
sport and art can offer. But whi le in
flank extended across the barley
field. several more dogs executed
outstanding long-distance cross line
covered birches and dark evergreens.
As birds were flushed high along the
brow of the hill, the guns formed a
On Wednesday morning a walk-up
was resumed in the mixed crop fields
behind Wester Urchany farm. High
tragedy the final outcome is known
from the beginning, at the 2012
Championship. anything could -
horizontal line delineated by white
drama continued early on when two
and did - happen. up until the very
retrieves up the steep bank. Among
pegs. Birds fell into thick cover
dogs were immediately put out: a
end. Like the caprices of the Bard's
these were Keith Bedford's FTCh
above and below a road that visibly
dead hen pheasant fell over a stone
three weird sisters. fate and fortune
Kayteens Cruise. who was sent as
the second dog up the bank to a
bisected the bank.
wall at the edge of the woods behind
Following several successful
single retrieves. nine dogs were
moved across the river for their
the right flank of the line. The first
two dogs sent were unable to make
anything of it. but Alan Schofield
seemed to work in mysterious
and powerful ways. What will
undoubtedly remain in the memories
two previous dogs were called in. As
the line moved forward and the right
precise area indicated by the judges.
but actually winded the bird further
of all is a stunning vision of the
year's very best dogs rising to
to the right.
second retrieve up the steep bank.
handled FTCh Eastdale Harry
For the third round.l4 dogs lined
up near Pony Bridge at the river
Standards remained high and all
perfectly to the fall and over the wall.
opportunities and challenges
competitors rose to the challenge.
where he quickly reappeared with
in a vibrant Highland tableau of
With a bag of 79 partridge and
pheasant. all nine dogs remained on
the bird. Later. FTCh Kayteens Cruise
was put out when he picked the
unparalleled splendour. •
the card for the final day.
wrong pheasant out of three that had
fallen to the right of the line.
Find horn. where a succession of
drives were held on the opposite
bank covered by a patchwork mosaic
Other strong contenders were
not put out but fell below expected
standards on their very last retrieves.
FTCh Delfleet Neon. however. never
wavered: he executed three quick
and tidy retrieves straight to the
fall and back, with a minimum of
whistling and handling, a fast return
and flawless delivery.
A spectacular end to
a magnificent event
A last stunning view of the Highlands
Diplomas of Merit
was enjoyed by all at the awards
• Alan Schofield's Iabrador dog
presentation in front of Cawdor
FTCh Eastdale Harry
Castle, overseen by IGL President
Richard Parker. Over the three days
The Duchess of Devonshire (centre) in the field with Nina Halsted
(left) and Cherry Finlan (right).
Result
1 David Latham's Iabrador
dog FTCh Delfleet Neon of
Fendawood
2 Cherry Finlan's Iabrador dog
FTCh Jarail Star Rocky Road of
Blackhatch, handled by John
Halsted
3 Jayne Coley's Iabrador dog
FTCh Waterford Ganton
4 Mike Rolland's Iabrador dog
FTCh Emmawood Drake
the competitors, organisers and
gallery had followed the dramatic
highs and lows that only great
• The late George Ridley's
Iabrador dog Levenghyl
Boxstone, handled by
Thomas Bushby
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