The Whippet Club 2014 2nd WCRA Championships 2014 – Results and Pictures

The 2nd WCRA Championships – Moreton-in-Marsh

Sunday 15th June 14, 240 yards bend

The weather forecast the weekend to be sunny and warm and, unusually, they were right! On Saturday, we were able to take full advantage of enjoying a beautiful summer’s day as the first team cricket were playing at home and setting up the track couldn’t start until the evening. The WCRA marquee served a dual purpose and was very handy for the barbeque which was organised by Carol and Nick Brown with some cookery input from Garry Comber; although he did drawn the line at wearing a chef’s hat. It was a lovely meal which came complete with desert too – thanks to the Brown family for all their hard work.

Although it does mean a late finish for the ground team on the Saturday; running the track on the outfield of the cricket pitch provides the dogs with a superb running surface.

Sunday dawned as a slightly cooler day and the layout for the bend meant that whippeteers had a good viewing angle from traps to finish line.

The n/e 16lb group was once again a low entry but this time the entrant Tinker’s Cloudy Moon completed both her runs to pick up her half coat at the tender age of six and a half so well done to her owner, Heather How, for keeping this little one fit to run a bend.

Whilst the n/e 18lb weight group consisted of a small field, it included two racing Champions and a hotly contested final which resulted in a win for the youngster *Jett Black and a very happy day for his owner Garry Comber.

*Cheeky Devil was looking to consolidate his form from the 1st Championships in the N/E 20lb group and came close with a runner up position to Pat Gant’s Wonder Wag who was undefeated all day. A quick mention to Sally Bunyan’s Hot Right Now who made the final on her first attempt and, hopefully, made it worthwhile sleeping in a ‘pop up’ tent that didn’t seem big enough for one, let alone a blow up double bed!!

The N/E 22lb group is nearly always the biggest group and this time was no exception; the two four-dog semi-finals were very competitive especially as there were no Racing Champions to beat and the times of both races were similar with Little Cracker and Zula Go Quick coming out the winners. The final went to Dave & Lyn Hunter’s *Zula Go Quick who proved how valuable experience around a bend can be and earned her half coat.

The two unbeaten dogs going into the final of the N/E 24lb group were WCRCh It’s Me and Vensuter Muskogee Venture with Sue Ward’s charge coming out on top and gaining her half coat but this is another highly competitive group and it will be interesting to see what happens at the remaining two championships.

Surprisingly, the N/E 26lb group was smaller than usual but the quality of the dogs just as high as larger groups; Trish Billingham’s Fenland Whisper held up the form book from the first Championships and she featured in the final again; this time finishing second to the new kid on the block, *Trust Me who gained his half coat – Nev & Kath Ingley are proud breeder/owners of the winner, whose pedigree name is aptly “Kathy’s Laddie”.

Interestingly, the N/E 28lb group was larger and the times were consistently quicker than the previous group; there was a mixture of dogs – a fairly new Champion in WCRCh Shakira, two half-coats and an established Champion who had been away from the Championships since last year. This same dog, WCRCh Markamy’s Black Bentley, came back in fine fettle and proving that he is no has-been by running unbeaten all day and giving his owners (the Bursey family) another championship win whilst setting a time in the semi-final second only to the fastest time set by WCRCh Chermayeff.

The Gilfeather’s stable had a good day, getting to the finals with three of their charges – finishing second in the N/E 22lb group with Little Cracker and runner up again in the NE 28lb group with *Max Attraction but this time going one better in the N/E 30lb with *Star Attraction by beating two established racing champions (WCRCh Flash In The Pan and WCRCh Shropshire Joc-key) and a youngster (Nip ‘n’ Tuck) to gain a much-deserved half coat.

The N/E 32lb group might be a smaller group but Jeanette Fage’s dog WCRCh Chermayeff carved out another dominating win and making it two Championships in a row for fastest time of the day with a time of 15.21.

The WCRA Committee would like to thank all the people who assisted as officials on the day and those who helped set up on the Saturday; I’m pleased to report that the number of helpers after racing allowed us to ‘take down’ the track in record time and it made a fitting end to a great day’s racing.

Till next time.

Report by Kim Saxby