The International Gundog League Retriever Society
Championship Qualifier Area
2023 IGL Retriever Championship
The Steward of the Beat was Head Keeper Rab Clark.
Awards
2nd Louie Robertson’s FTCh Mitforton Onour awarded the FTCh Ulstaire Style Challenge Trophy
Championship Report
For David Lisett it is “still unbelievable” what happened at this year’s Championship. His second win makes him a member of that very select group of handlers in modern times to have lifted the The Retriever Trials Championship Challenge Cup on more than one occasion.
He describes the “great privilege and honour” not only to run HM King Charles III’s dog FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham but also to have handled that dog to win the Championship. This is the first time in the history of the trial that a monarch’s dog has been awarded the win. HM King Charles III must be delighted and the trialling world knows that the late HM Queen Elizabeth II, whose dog this originally was, would have been even more so. Billy Steel Snr recalls that when he was judging the 1993 Championship at Sandringham the Queen told him that she had won many prestigious horse races but that the win that she really wanted was the Retriever Championship. And many will remember the late Queen walking in line at Championships past and her keen and knowledgeable interest in the sport.
Yet again, breeding showed. The mating of FTCh Asterix Aguzannis of Chatsworth and FTCh Buccleuch Xena was not only Field Trial Champion to Field Trial Champion but also Championship winner to Championship winner. And in FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham it has produced the same, a Field Trial Champion and a Championship winner.
David describes FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham “Harris” as a “good casting dog” and certainly over the course of the trial time and time again the dog was sent by the handler to the fall area in a single cast and asked to go down the gears to hold the area and pick. David knew that fitness was also going to be of great importance at this trial; the terrain was challenging with steep banks throughout, so he trained hard and took the dog out on a quad during the months before to prepare him for the demands of the ground. He credits the Queensberry Estate and Estate Factor Anna Fergusson for providing him with the best training facilities possible to produce his winning dogs.
This year’s IGL Retriever Championship sponsored by Skinner’s at the Queensberry Estate was held by kind permission of The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. His Grace was a charming and generous host, welcoming everyone so warmly in his speech on the morning of the first day, joining the line to watch proceedings and inviting all to a Champagne reception at the Castle that evening, an impressive end to an already memorable day.
And memorable it was. Throughout that day and the rest of the Championship the dogs were stretched by judges Nigel Carville and Mike Rolland on the right and Greig Paterson and Steve Richardson on the left. The ground was demanding, steep with numerous horizons so that dogs were frequently hunting out of sight to pick on the white grass and rushes of the hill and bracken banks. This was ground that allowed the judges to find what they were looking for, a dog that required the least handling and made a difficult find look simple and easy.
Head Keeper and Steward of the Beat Rab Clark and his expert team worked tirelessly through the Championship to ensure that the game was produced and an accurate team of guns put the game on the ground.
From the beginning, it was a long Championship line stretching over Garroch and then Locherben so that often one end of the line could not see the other. Simon Capstick’s FTCh Gunnerspeg Apollo running at no. 4 was first to be given the opportunity to pick behind his partner dog and successfully did so, a partridge shot off the end of the line over a brow.
Roddy Forbes and Millbuies Gilbert of Carnochway looked smart when they were bought over from the right hand side of the line and picked quickly behind the left hand dog on a partridge shot in the middle of the line that they would not have marked because of the lie of the hill.
John Halsted and Buccleuch Favour were taken over to the right hand side of the line to be successfully tried on a rabbit that the right hand dogs had failed to locate.
Billy Steel Snr‘s FTCh Ash Lightning of Leadburn impressed when he held his dog to pick over a brow behind the first two dogs tried. Unfortunately he was one of two dogs then put out of the trial by Declan Boyle who skilfully held FTCh Jake of Blackburn in the fall area just out of sight over the brow and persevered to pick. That same dog caught the eye with its hunting style on a dry run, the last attempt of the day by the four dogs in line, on a partridge that had most probably washed away down a small, hidden burn.
Enterkin provided a spectacular backdrop for the second day. A huge, steep gully with areas of white grass and bracken and fences that required the dogs to take them boldly and hold their line to the retrieve. Often the bird required would be over a brow and the forward judges provided the necessary help to the handlers.
Rab Clark, who was also shooting at the trial, and his team continued to present birds to the guns exactly as required.
Louie Robertson’s FTCh Mitforton Onour made a good start on a delayed long mark about 120 yards behind the line and down into the gully. One cast and the dog made the area and hunted to pick. On their next retrieve the dog had to hold an area of rushes but persevered to pick behind the first dog tried that had not made the area.
David Lisett and FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham began their campaign on the right hand side of the line; their first retrieve a jump over the fence down the gully and back through some bushes and a neat handle into the area to pick. For their second retrieve they were sent after the first dog tried: again over the fence and to the area in one cast where there was only a small window but with a couple of handles the bird was picked.
Vikki Stanley’s Craigmaddie Nevis showing its marking ability in the second round, going straight to the fall to pick.
Kirsty Cousins and FTCh Westerkames Rigline of Brogdenview earned the first applause of the Championship when they picked, seemingly effortlessly, behind the first three dogs that had worked hard but unsuccessfully to locate the hen pheasant tucked into the bracken towards the top of the bank.
Philip Dyson’s FTCh Copperbirch Chanel of Tallamelie showed its gamefinding in the second round, first picking quickly over a brow in the bracken behind the first dog tried and then locating a wound partridge in the bracken that had been shot behind the line close to the fence.
Louie Robertson and Mitforton Onour again impressed with a retrieve over a brow up the hill and into thistles along the fence line. The dog worked and held its line through the thistles some 25 yards before locating the cock pheasant that the first dog tried had failed to pick.
David Lisett continued to catch the eye with a retrieve across the shoulder of the hill and into the bracken. The first dog tried had picked out of area. FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham reached the fall in one cast and held tight to the area to pick the first of two birds shot in that area. He was then sent back and disappeared into the bracken to pick the second of the two birds which was a little to the right of the first and came back at pace.
Scott Marland’s Jaycote Game Brooke showed its gamefinding by quickly picking another bird over a brow with minimal assistance for its third round retrieve.
Lee Hartis and Kentwone Columbine of Leacaz was the second dog tried on a pheasant that had hit the top of a bank and then rolled into a gully. The dog located the fall and then took the line down the bank to pick.
David Logan and FTCh Craigmaddie Mufasa of Bishopbrae efficiently picked a bird in the rushes that the first dog tried had not been able to locate. David was always easy to spot in his blue cotton shirt sleeves with the rest of us dressed in warm coats!
Scud Law provided a dramatic setting for the third day. The retrieves were to be long and exacting, down and up the hill, requiring precision to reach the fall in one cast and the difficulty exacerbated by the light conditions. For the right hand side, dogs sent to the left would find it difficult to pick out their handlers and for handlers on the left hand side the problem they encountered was seeing their dogs on the opposite hill when looking straight into the sun. The judges tried to minimize the problem for dogs and handlers, moving them whenever possible to improve the sending conditions.
Sadly, Michael Corr and IR FTCh Ringbarn Fletching who had been going well, failed to pick in the fourth round giving an opportunity for Simon Capstick and FTCh Gunnerspeg Apollo which was taken.
David Latham and FTCh Meadowlark Big Rock Fendawood, who had also to that point impressed, failed to pick their retrieve on the opposite hill but Vikki Stanley and Criagmaddie Nevis were able to locate the bird.
John Halsted and Cheesecake Artillery of Chatsworth successfully contended with the difficult light conditions to efficiently pick from the right hand side across to the left. The dog looking back would not have seen the handler.
David Logan’s Craigmaddie Mufasa of Bishopbrae brought Jayne Coley and Kilpen Nightcap of Waterford’s campaign to an end, another long retrieve just above the track on the opposite hill.
David Latham and FTCh Fendawood Harold then ended the Championship hopes of both Kirsty Cousins with FTCh Westerkames Rigline of Brogdenview and Lee Hartis with Kentwone Columbine of Leacaz. Both dogs had been looking in contention until FTCh Fendawood Harold settled to pick a partridge on which they had both been tried that had been shot just behind a feeder close to the burn at the bottom of the hill.
Declan Boyle fought to pick his next retrieve, high up on the hill on the opposite side, but unfortunately did not and Sarah Miles coming behind with Texacali Praline of Meonvalley made a smart job of getting to the area and quickly located the bird.
FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham was then sent in one cast to almost the top of the hill from the opposite bank. David Lisett quietly held his dog in the area and settled it to pick the bird.
After seven retrieves, the remaining dogs were taken through to a partridge drive. The judges bought each dog forward for one retrieve after which they discussed the final placings. At the end of which all were in agreement that they had found a worthy winner.
2023 IGL Retriever Championship Facts & Figures
The Queensberry Estate has previously hosted the IGL Retriever Championship in 1995 (one of this year’s qualifiers Roddy Forbes judged that year), 2005 and 2015 (judged by another qualifier, Mike Tallamy). Nigel Carville judged this year along with Greig Patterson, Steve Richardson and Mike Rolland. Nigel was awarded a Diploma of Merit at Queensberry in 2015 with FTCh Waysgreen Apollo.
There were 67 qualifiers this year and all competed at this year’s event: 37 Field Trial Champions, 24 of the dogs qualified ran at Holkham last year, 24 bitches, 4 Golden Retrievers
This year Laura Hill’s FTCh Jarailstar Hogen of Stauntonvale, the youngest dog in competition, qualified by winning three 2 day Open Stakes. There were three double qualifiers: Ronnie Laughton’s FTCh Etomanni Missouri, Richard Johnston’s FTCh Rectoryoak Appalachia at Shimnavale and Thomas Bushby’s FTCh Jofless Epaulette of Shadowbrae.
No fewer than six dogs qualified via the arduous B qualification route: Bill Gardiner’s Tempurong Gra of Cacklebury, John Halsted’s Buccleuch Favour, David Logan’s FTCh Craigmaddie Mufasa of Bishopbrae (placed 3rd), David Milne’s Rumbleton Ginevier, Claire Raymond’s FTCh Nobsquinton Nettle and Louie Robertson’s FTCh Mitforton Onour (placed 2nd).
Five handlers qualified two or more dogs. John Halsted very impressively qualified with six dogs, and achieved a Diploma of Merit with one of them, Cheesecake Artillery of Chatsworth. This beat his own previous record of qualifying five dogs set at Queensberry in 2015 when he also won with FTCh Asterix Aguzannis of Chatsworth (sire of this year’s winner FTCh Buccleuch Bowhill of Sandringham) and was awarded a Diploma of Merit with FTCh Emmanygan Ramble. David Latham qualified 3 dogs and Lousie Munchaus Adsbol, Simon Capstick and David Lisett each handled two dogs. David Latham ran Cairngryffe Alise of Fendawood, a bitch sired by another of his qualifier’s FTCh Meadowlark Big Rock Fendawood (awarded a Diploma of Merit). Louise Munchaus Adsbol handled the oldest dog in competition, FTCh Nettle Brae Andy of Fendawood. Simon Capstick’s two dogs shared the same grand sire, FTCh Emmanygan Ramble. Both dogs qualified by David Lisett were out of the bitch he handled to win the 2017 Championship, FTCh Buccleuch Xena.
FTCh Asterix Aguzannis of Chatsworth sired five of this year’s qualifiers and is the grand sire of two. FTCh Troddenmills Full Throttle of Leacaz also sired five.
Two dogs ran in their fourth Championship: FTCh Think Twice Zero to Hero (GR dog) and FTCh Mitforton Onour (Lab. bitch).
Six of this year’s handlers have won the IGL Retriever Championship: Declan Boyle, Kevin Butler, John Halsted, David Latham, David Lisett and Mike Tallamy.
Among this year’s first time qualifiers were James Brindley, Bill Gardiner, Lesley Crompton, Chris Gore, Matthew Gould, Sue Jordan, Patti Money-Coutts, Ellena Nunnely, Tom Sage, Adam Snare and Pete Whelan.
Billy Steel Jnr, three times winner of this event, was shooting at his first Retriever Championship (he has already shot at both Spaniel Championships).