The following article " The Heat was on" was written by John Darling for the Shooting Times & Country Magazine Sept 1994 and reports on The 66th Pointer & Setter Trials Meeting and the 1994 Kennel Club Champion Stake.
THE CHAMPION stake is the grand finale of three days of pointer and setter work. The first day is an open stake, held this year at the Glenalmond estate. Day two is the puppy derby stake and the novice stake, and on day three is the main event, the champion stake, held this year at the Logiealmond estate in Perthshire by kind permis- sion of the Earl of Mansfield.
Quite a crowd of competitors and spectators gathered outside Logiealmond Lodge in glorious early-morning sunshine. Before Jon Kean, the secretary of the Scottish Field Trials Association, began his opening address, a minute's silence was held in memory of Jack Eassom, the association's former secretary.
The day turned out to be ideal for tourists, but not very good for dog work. The sun was hard and bright, and the wind very light, becoming almost nonexistent at times. Of the first two brace of dogs, one ran out of control and was eliminated within seconds of being cast off.
On the second brace, an Irish setter found the first grouse covey of the day within 100 yards of the parked cars. The setter stumbled over the seven birds and jumped up to catch one as it flushed, which didn't make a good impression on the judges, Colin Organ and Will Sloan.
Only 29 dogs were running and plenty of them made minor errors which, to be fair, were some- times forced on them by the faint breeze and thick cover. For example, Declon O'Rourke, who has won in both Ireland and England, had troubles when his Irish setter dog Ranger of Lusk, missed a good covey that was sitting on top of a small knoll. Godfrey McRoberts' pointer dog Sawel Spark found them instead and sent the birds shimmering over the heather. He later got a point on a single cock and hen.
In the hard, bright conditions, heat haze rippled on the horizon, and the dogs returned from their runs panting like trains, their handlers gently perspiring. Roddy Mclntosh, the grouse keeper at Logiealmond, knows his ground very well and was able to brief the judges on the lie of the land so that all the dogs and handlers were given a decent bit of ground to work, even though the wind came and went and swung through 180 degrees during the course of the day.
At the beginning the coveys of grouse were somewhat spooky, and often jumped as a group when they felt danger was too close. But as the day became hotter they sat tight in the heather and the spectators were able to watch classic examples of dog work, like that provided by Mr S. Robinson's Irish setter dog Lusca Perry, which put up a covey of seven in three separate flushes.
Some well-known handlers found themselves beset by misfortune. Maurice Getty had little good luck at this stake. His pointer bitch Weeping Willie ran against John Kean's pointer dog - which Maurice had also bred - as the first brace of the day. But Weeping Willie went out of control, so that was her out. The other four dogs that he had entered worked in a much more professional manner, but unfortunately they failed to pick up any prizes.
Pointers and setters are the earliest of breeds of dog. They were originally used - and still are - for falconry and, before the gun was used, to net birds which is why the dog drops when on point. Two men would then drag a net over the heather and onto the birds.
Peter 0'Driscoll, who won this event last year, had some good points and flushes. He was running three pointers. One of them, Fowington Slezak, is the only show champion running on the field trial circuit.
Willy Hosick's Irish setter bitch Settershill Tina is one of the best in the British Isles and was a joy to watch, its front legs reaching right forward as it raced through the heather, searching for birds, kicking up a trail of pollen like smoke in the light breeze, then whipping around stock-still as it came on point. Several top dogs had little luck as the light wind puffed, then died. Settershill Tina, and Mr S. Robinson's Lusca Max both went out when both of them missed a lone cock bird sitting tight in the heather.
The wind kept dropping and changing, and in the stillness all you could hear was the hum of bees working the heather. The wind didn't help. One dog went out after its second false point with in a matter of minutes. "You canna have that," I was told. "What d'you think would happen if you brought up an elderly laird, and there was nothing there after all his trudging? A dog like that is a permanent pointer!"
By lunchtime the grouse were lying very tight. The spectators put up the odd bird which had clamped itself to the ground. But grouse weren't the only game that the dogs found. A couple of hill pheasants were put to flight and, during the afternoon, there was a very nice point by Mr P. O'Halleron's Gordon setter bitch Lusca Bean Deas on a brace of snipe. Hares there were aplenty, but nearly all of the dogs ignored them completely, even after running right over them.
Just after lunch, the first two dogs went on point on two separate coveys. Maurice Getty's dog was on point but the spectators and the judges saw another covey that had been caught out in short cover, creeping in down the skyline further out to the right. The second covey was fearful of the spectators. "Usually they don't see 40 people all together on a moor."
Only seven dogs were called forward after lunch, all of which had performed extremely well. As it turned out, the afternoon session ended almost as soon as it started. Plenty of grouse had been found during the day, and Roddy Mclntosh had fired 21 shots. Every dog that needed to be fired over was fired over, and all were found to be steady.
The prizes were presented by Mr Craig of Pedigree Petfoods, which sponsored the stake. Afterwards, one of the judges, Colin Organ, summed up the day: "For the conditions, we saw some very good dogs. The seven that came through to the second round were all in a position to win. We gave them good runs this morning - some of them flagged a little in the heat, but on the whole we were quite pleased with what we saw. There were accidents: some very good dogs, after they'd had finds, then unfortunately missed single birds.
"There was a high standard of dog work - for 80 degrees of heat. Even the setters weren't going to water when they were running, which was a credit to them. The reds and the Gordons were looking for grouse, not for water. On the whole it was an enjoyable trial to judge. We're sorry we lost some dogs by running them on after they'd had finds, but this near to the Twelfth we felt they ought to have been able to find those birds."
Willy Sloan agreed: "It was an excellent stake. Conditions were difficult, but every dog gave of its best and really tried. The dogs that did the right thing went through to the last round, and the best dogs came through in the end."
Last year's winner Peter O'Driscoll said: "It was a level playing field - we all had the same chances." The judges gave each dog a fair run, even though it often meant walking some distance to find a patch of heather which the dogs could work effectively. As the winner Billy Darragh said afterwards: "The judges made a real effort to get us into the wind every time we went in front of them, and that's the way it should be at a champion stake." He certainly had nothing to complain about, as his dogs came first and fourth. He'd now need his sideboard reinforced to take the trophies.
Billy has been running dogs for 25 years, and he said: "Today was a tough stake, with heavy cover and a very warm day, so all the dogs had to work very hard. The older, more experienced dogs were better able to handle the light and varying wind." But as Willy Sloan said: "That bitch was the best-trained dog in this stake "
The 66th Pointer and Setter Trials Meeting and the 1994 Kennel Club Champion Stake
1 st: Billy Darragh's Irish Setter bitch, Moanruad Zephyr of Erinvale
2nd: Godfrey McRoberts' six-year old pointer dog, Sawel Spark
3rd: Phillip O'Halleron's Gordon setter bitch, Lusca Bean Deas
4th: Billy Darragh's Irish setter dog, Jonsmae Startime of Erinvale
Certificates of Merit: Peter O'Driscoll's pointer dog Fowington Buzz, and Mrs Janine Bradbury's English setter dog, Upperwood Pride of the Heather