Great Yorkshire Hound Show
The VWH and Grove and Rufford triumph to share the big prizes in the foxhound ring, while the Holcombe win both harrier championships
FOXHOUNDS from 17 different packs vied for the honours at the Great Yorkshire Show, where the Grove and Rufford challenged the VWH at every turn following a lean 2016. The Nottinghamshire-based pack won the doghound championship, but conceded defeat in the afternoon to an exceptional bitch from the southern raider’s Meysey Hampton kennels.
Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn’s
(Wynnstay) hounds landed a mighty blow for the old English foxhound by winning the first two classes on a day that also marked Michael Abrahams’ retirement from chairing the foxhound show committee after 25 years.
Jacky Thomas MFH (Glamorgan) and Evo Shirley MFH (Portman) reviewed some attractive young hounds in the opening restricted class, including scopey entrants from the Bedale and Fernie. However, the eye was constantly drawn to the Wynnstay’s victorious black and tan Chairman, who oozed quality from every pore.
With 73 entrants, the open class for the best unentered couple was the largest of the day. The VWH and Grove and Rufford entries included hounds of real quality, but neither hunt could match the Wynnstay’s Chairman and Sherlock for uniformity and class combined. The Wynnstay’s sharp and elegant stamp of old English hound was consistent throughout the day and a tribute to Richard Tyacke, who has bred and hunted this pack for the past 13 years.
The unentered championship was contested by hounds from the Bedale, Grove and Rufford, VWH and Wynnstay, but the Grove and Rufford’s long-limbed Miller prevailed after a closely contested run-off.
The VWH found winning form in the entered couples class with brothers Folklore and Fielding
16, ahead of the Cottesmore’s Benson and Bentley 16, with the Grove and Rufford in third place ahead of a smaller but quality duo in the Morpeth’s Marksman and Maverick 15.
A strong two-couple class was whittled down to four hunts; the Grove and Rufford’s winning quartet were left on their leads along with the second-placed VWH as eight predominantly tan hounds from the Cottesmore and Percy disputed third place, with the Leicestershire visitors preferred. The dark marking from two of the Cottesmore’s hounds emanate from their old English sire, Hurworth Monarch 09.
Decisive judging in the stallion hound class meant that the
VWH’s broken-coated Crackshot 14 prevailed over the Grove and Rufford’s Brusher 15 to win the new Anthony Preston Memorial Trophy, which was presented by his widow, Rosemary.
The Grove put forward
Laxton 16 and Saxon 16, the latter fresh from victory at Blaston, to contest the championship, which developed into a contest between Saxon and VWH Folklore. After Saxon’s worthy triumph, Jacky Thomas described him as “an outstanding dog who filled the ring with his presence”.
A FIRST-EVER ROSETTE FOR THE SOUTH DURHAM
ALASTAIR JACKSON and Harry Gosling (Modbury Harriers) awarded Bedale Google first prize
ahead of South Durham Raven in the restricted unentered class. Google has a Lauderdale bitch for her dam, and was bred north of the border by Tim Coulson, who is starting his second season as the Bedale’s joint-master and huntsman.
South Durham Raven’s second place was greeted by loud applause when it was announced that this was the first time the sporting northern pack had ever won a rosette at a major show; hounds were shown by their joint-master and huntsman, Gareth Watchman.
When combined with her litter sister Goodley in the open unentered couples class, Bedale Google was relegated to third place by the VWH’s classy homebred couple, Hasty and Haughty, ahead of the Grove’s Glitter and Glimmer. VWH Haughty — a hound light of colour and long on quality — went on to land the prize for the best unentered bitch in a run-off against the Grove’s more substantial Glitter.
Footloose 16, the VWH’s champion unentered bitch from last year, made an eye-catching return to the ring when combined with her sister Fortune to run out convincing winners of the entered couple class, leaving the Zetland’s Coco 15 and Apple 16 to outclass the Bedale’s entry for second place with hounds that were smaller than the winners, but racy and active.
A strong two-couple class was again dominated by the VWH and Grove and Rufford, but the Gloucestershire hunt prevailed with a quartet representing four different litters from the 2014 entry upwards.
After this, Michael Abrahams’ retirement was marked by a presentation. The hound show has been transformed under his watch, moving in 2009 from an enclave of hidden exclusivity to the much more accessible and welcoming site that it enjoys today — a move described by the outgoing chairman as “a change in culture that was planned years in advance”.
Mr Abrahams also paid tribute to the generous support extended to the hound show throughout his time by the Great Yorkshire Show executive.
Grove and Rufford Banish 14 won the brood bitch class for the Bobby Corbett Memorial Trophy ahead of the VWH’s hare pie Pudding 13 but, having triumphed in 2015, was ineligible to participate in the bitch championship, where Footloose’s fluid and extravagant action captured the Camilla Halifax Cup for the VWH, with Grove Lusty 16 in reserve.