Keeping the whippet breed on course
A committed group of enthusiasts is ensuring that these lion-hearted little sighthounds can still demonstrate their sporting side
George Sell explains how enthusiasts are preserving the sporting strains
Most readers of The Field will be familiar with greyhound coursing and, before the introduction in 2005 of the Hunting Act, many will have lined the banks of the Withins and Lydiate running grounds at Altcar in Merseyside for the sport’s blue riband event, the Waterloo Cup.
But how many are aware that the greyhound’s smaller cousin, the whippet, was also used for organised coursing under rules? Although primarily known as rabbiting dogs, whippets are versatile. They have great noses and make indispensable ferreting companions; they are razor sharp on the lamp and mad-keen ratters; they can flush birds to the gun and, in one case, I’ve heard of a whippet retrieving shot birds. Until the ban, they were also capable of putting up a spectacular show behind a hare.
The first organised club, the Whippet Coursing Club (WCC), was formed in 1962 and ran predominantly in the Cotswolds. It was followed by the East of England WCC in 1970, the East Anglian WCC in 1971 and the Woolley and District WCC in 1973. While whippets can’t match the thunderous top speed of a greyhound, they are more agile, generally have better stamina and are as game as the day is long. Many of the top breeders of coursing whippets were also successful in the show ring and would often show and course the same dogs. One of these dedicated breeders of “dual-purpose” dogs is Gay Robertson, of the Moonlake kennel.
In the early days of whippet coursing, Robertson had an unusual regime for keeping her dogs sharp. “I was working at the BBC and living in Campden Grove, Kensington, so walked my dogs every day in Kensington Gardens before going to work. Squirrels were abundant so the dogs got extremely fit racing from tree to tree and occasionally catching one on the ground. They also got good at picking them off trees when the squirrel had underestimated how high it could jump.”
A thriving coursing scene was under the threat of legislation for many years before the Hunting Act finally came in and Robertson
remembers one particularly eventful day. “In 1976, the Select Committee set up by the House of Lords to investigate coursing arranged to attend a meeting of the Whippet Coursing Club. To add to the tension, there was to be a BBC camera crew. We were apprehensive when we learned that the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) was also planning to attend and dismayed when a coach arrived at the venue disgorging what looked like two rugby teams of huge men in camouflage kit. We imagined the membership of the WCC being wiped out on the spot. However, the men turned out to be steel workers from Sheffield who had also heard of LACS’ plans and had arrived to protect us. In the event, the day went well, our new supporters thoroughly enjoyed their day and the BBC coverage was fair and showed a particularly good course that took place almost round the cameraman’s feet.”
Since 2005, and the banning of coursing under rules, the whippet has adapted to the sport of lure coursing – the pursuit of an artificial lure over a course designed to mimic a real hare as closely as possible. The courses range in length from 500 metres to 800 metres and include several sharp turns to test speed, stamina and agility.
STILL FIT FOR FUNCTION
The burgeoning lure-coursing scene has enabled breeders and owners to continue testing their stock, with the aim of keeping the breed fit for function, within the correct size range and with good conformation. Sadly, the same can’t be said of the noble coursing greyhound. Sally Merison, chair of the National Coursing Club and a former board member of the Countryside Alliance, says: “There haven’t been any litters of coursing greyhounds bred in England for several years. Coursing greyhounds are of a different conformation to the track greyhound so, as a result of the Hunting Act, where coursing is sadly prohibited in the UK, our ancient bloodlines are dying out.”
Merison, who co-owned several greyhounds with her friend, Clarissa Dickson Wright, adds: “Unlike whippets, that will chase anything, greyhounds find chasing the lure rather boring. This means we haven’t been able to use lure coursing as a substitute activity, which would have enabled us to keep the coursing lines going.”
Thankfully for the whippet, enthusiasts – such as the people behind the Sporting Whippet Club (SWC) – are determined to ensure the same fate doesn’t befall their beloved breed. The club holds lure-coursing events from March to October, at locations as varied as the polo field at Richard Benyon’s Englefield estate to a Somerset hill farm.
SWC meetings follow the format of coursing as closely as possible. Dogs generally compete in eight-dog knockout stakes. They wear the traditional knitted red and white coursing collars and are paired up before being released by the slipper. At one SWC meeting in Oxfordshire, Arron Atmore, the slipper of the last Waterloo Cup in 2005, did the honours. Runs are scored using a similar points system to pre-ban coursing and the judge raises a red or white flag to indicate the winner.
One of the club’s founders, former chairman Richard Gatenby, says, “Formation of the SWC was based on two equally important points. One is the long-term objective of influencing breed type. I don’t deny that there are plenty of quality whippets in the
‘We need to keep coursing at the forefront and not let it be forgotten’
show ring and, in the breed standard under weight and size, judges are asked to use their discretion and not unduly penalise an otherwise good specimen if it doesn’t fall within the ideal parameters. However, some show whippets are rather too tall and some are over angulated. I wouldn’t like to see the divergence of type that the show and racing or coursing greyhounds exhibit creep into the whippet. We’re not naïve enough to think we can change the world but I think we can provide an environment that fosters capable whippets of quality – it’s a long-term goal that involves responsible breeding.
“The other point is to promote the traditions of coursing: ‘a competitive test of the merits of coursing dogs – two dogs only in each course – under formalised conditions regulated by a strict and detailed code of rules’. This is important as it helps further our cause and educate new whippet owners, as well as guests, that actually coursing wasn’t what they thought it was and what they’ve seen on the local news is poaching or trespass in pursuit of game – something that’s always been illegal; the ban hasn’t stopped that at all. We need to keep coursing at the forefront and not let it be forgotten. It is an important piece of our culture,” concludes Gatenby.
GROWING PACK
Members of this friendly and committed club are a diverse bunch, united by their love of the breed. Scott Glasspool is huntsman and former Joint Master of the Clinkard Meon Valley Beagles and trained as a gamekeeper at the Duke of Norfolk’s Arundel estate. A relatively recent convert to the breed, he and girlfriend Katie are the proud owners of five whippets – and counting. (Any whippet owner will tell you that one is never enough and they can be most addictive.) The pair actively promote the breed on the Countryside Alliance stand at events such as the Festival of Hunting at Peterborough and the Hampshire Country Sports Day.
“I was attracted to whippets for their size and speed,” Glasspool says. “I wanted something that wouldn’t take up too much room at home and that would be a game little rabbiting dog. They also have a very laid-back attitude to life, which fits in with my lifestyle perfectly. I tend to look at a whippet in the same way that I do a beagle: it should have good feet, good shoulders, a good mouth and a nice top line. Extremes of top line are often seen nowadays and a whippet should not be a rectangle nor a hunchback.”
Another member, Mark Bicknell, successfully kept and ran coursing greyhounds for many years. He says: “With the ban and Father Time taking some of my old greyhounds, I still wanted a hunting companion as I was ferreting for rabbits again (a second childhood). I’d always admired well-puttogether whippets and had known Gay Robertson from my time with the Cotswold CC, where she finished as secretary. With my mind made up, I approached her and now own a bitch she bred. I’ve always kept a dog that is capable of some form of work. To my mind, the ability to hold their own behind an artificial lure, as well as knocking over an unsuspecting rabbit now and again, is a good test for the breed. With the height limit placed within the SWC we also look to keep size close to the breed standard and would hope that we can encourage future litters based on ability and breed standard size and conformation.”
At regular intervals throughout the SWC season, as they have throughout the history of whippet coursing, Robertson’s Moonlakes have found themselves in slips with dogs from another famous kennel – the Lagunas. Started in 1945 by Dorrit Mckay and continued to this day by her daughter, Lilah Wainman, Laguna is probably the oldest kennel affix in the country and has produced an enormous number of successful coursing and show-ring whippets. At one SWC stakes final, as Robertson and Wainman led their charges out to the slipper’s shy, a wag in the audience wondered how many times the pair had met in finals over the years and compared the pairing to a Manchester United versus Liverpool FA Cup final.
Gatenby is pleased with the way the lurecoursing scene is developing. “I don’t pretend that lure coursing is on a par with what I witnessed up until the ban – it’s not the same and dogs can’t ‘work’ a lure and influence its course like they could with a hare; but they still put in the effort and some exciting running has been witnessed. I wouldn’t want the whippet to be without an outlet for its talents or for coursing to be forgotten.”
SWC secretary Sarah Meadham says: “Our first seasons were not without hiccups, it was a massive learning curve, especially regarding the machinery required to pull the lure. Yet every season the club has gone from strength to strength, with entries now at capacity and full cards at every meeting. Now in our fourth season, we have welcomed 160 whippets from racing, working, pet and show backgrounds, with members travelling hundreds of miles from across the country to compete. Over the seasons we are pleased to have seen an increase in breed standard-sized whippets competing. We have also successfully encouraged more entries from those regularly seen on the show scene. Among our number are whippets with Junior Warrants, Stud Book Numbers and Challenge Certificates, and even a handful of show champions, who all prove they are fit for function by winning courses and stakes. Indeed, one of the 2016 season finals winners is a holder of two Reserve Challenge Certificates. We are truly delighted with the growth of the club and the sport, and can only see our progress being beneficial for the future of the breed that we love so much.”
For more on the Sporting Whippet Club, visit www.sportingwhippetclub.co.uk
‘They still put in the effort and some exciting running has been witnessed’