Just seconds in it

The Genesis Performance Novice Jumping Final 2007 took place in beautiful weather at the RVA Open Agility Show on the afternoon of Sunday, 17 June. There were a good number of interested spectators from among the visitors to the East of England show, which was in full swing next door, watching the 31 competitors who had come from as far afield as the Isle of Man and Devon. Sukie Hunter reports on a very close finish.

The competitors had all written a few notes about themselves and their dogs, which were incorporated into the commentary provided for us by Liz Brown. Jeanette Tandy, the judge, had set a testing course with a straight, fast start followed by some sharp turns and then a section in which the long jump, obstacle 12, was followed by three quite closely spaced jumps and a tricky double-back into the weave. This section caught out a good many of the competitors, as dogs stretching out over the long jump often had either 13 or 14 down, or turned into the weaves before 15 rather than after it.

The first competitor to go was Christine Freer with Elsa. Although the pair had a few problems with the tricky sections and lost some time, they managed to stay clear in a very creditable 31.118. Running third, Rita Schofield's Jack, described as 'not the speediest but always an honest dog' lived up to his billing by also going clear, but in a slower time than Elsa. Then shortly afterwards, Trudie Beckwith and Sasha showed what could be done by going clear in 27.222, a beautiful round that set the standard for the rest of the competitors to aim at.

No sooner had Trudie and Sasha left the ring, however, than Mike Stallard came in with his long-striding brindle lurcher Islay and did even better. Mike had described Islay as a loopy lurcher, all or nothing, but this afternoon she was on her very best form and not a bit loopy, putting in a very fast round, clear in 26.852.

A few competitors later, it was the turn of Debbie Prior and Ross. Ross is a big, fast dog and there were a few hairy moments on the tight sections of the course but Debbie kept her cool and handled brilliantly to go clear in 27.362, putting her into 3rd place behind Trudie. It was beginning to get tight at the top!

Debbie and Ross were immediately followed by Gina Graham and Cascade, who came fourth in this final last year. Cascade is such a neat, clever dog, a very economical jumper and very fast round the turns, and handled beautifully by Gina she shaved a hundredth of a second off Islay's time to take the lead with a clear in 26.721.

After this there was quite a long period when most dogs had a pole down between 12 and 15 and several were eliminated. Eventually Cynthia Brealey with the aptly named Dusty, a shaggy grey collie, stopped the rot with a nice clear round that would eventually give her 9th place. Shortly afterwards Rita Lloyds and Poppy, a lovely neat jumper who turns very quickly, also had a beautiful clear round, but not quite fast enough to catch the leaders. The same was true of 17-year-old Alex Finnie and Mist, who put in a textbook round, a pleasure to watch but only fast enough at 27.607 to take them into 5th place meantime.

With only two competitors to go the competition was drawing to a close, and it seemed that the top places had probably already been decided. Then second from last Lynne Ward and Rookie put in a really great round that put them into the lead. Rookie only started competing in March and something tells me that, although this was her first final, it is not going to be her last! She didn't give the impression of going as fast as some of the others but, beautifully handled by Lynne. Not wasting an inch anywhere on the course, she had a perfect clear round in 27.530, taking the lead from Gina and Cascade by just under half a second.

The last competitor of all was Marion Barnes and Buddy. This combination had been 5th in the warm-up competition an hour or so earlier and, although the dogs that had beaten them in the warm-up had all come to grief somewhere in the final itself, Marion and Buddy put in a lovely clear round in 27.530, which put them into 6th place, just ahead of Alex and Mist.

In the end there was just over 1.6 seconds between 1st and 9th, so the result was very close. The standard of handling was very high indeed and there were some really fabulous rounds, a great competition to watch.

Results

Photos: Pawprints design.co.uk

To contact Agilitynet click here for full contact details.
Please do get in touch - we love hearing from you, even if it's only to tell us that one of the pages has gone wrong!