Danny earns his first win at Holme

Frank Cleary judged the entry of 26 at the elevated location where the sizeable course had a difficult gather.

A protruding wall on the right could turn dogs in, whereas to the left, there was much open ground and, as the dogs ran down into a dip, they lost sight of their sheep.

As a consequence, many required additional commands over their outruns. The mainly Cheviot-cross shearlings were manageable, but touchy.

Running at number 10, Shirley sent Danny on a left-handed gather where he lost three marks for commands given and then he lost another one from his lift.

Keeping an excellent line he had a faultless fetch before slipping his sheep at the first obstacle in the right-hand drive. Ten marks in total were deducted from his driving. Slight hesitation before the sheep went into the pen cost two points to give a score of 74.

With the penultimate trial William Bell and Cap matched that score. They were one of the few competitors to have a clean gather and lift, but lost five marks on the fetch for deviations to put them in second place on an out-bye decision. A son of Bobby Dalziel’s Joe, out of Bonnie, Danny was bred in August 2007 by Philip Rigby of Skelsmergh,

Windermere

At the Windermere nursery at Silverdale, Fred Ingham judged the entry of 44 dogs. Running was over a flattish field.

Towards the end of the gather the ground rose slightly which seemed to pull the dogs in, sometimes causing them to come tight onto their sheep and occasionally cross in front of them. The cross-drive proved the most difficult section of the course being difficult to judge.

Overall, the Mule fattening lambs were quite good to manage apart from a few packets breaking back to the holding pen.

At nine Shirley Cropper set the standard, gaining 73 points with Tess. They stood top until, at 40, John Palmer and Sly went ahead. For a couple of directional commands towards the end of his left hand gather, Sly lost four marks followed by one point lost at the lift.

For line deviations, two marks were deducted from his fetch followed by seven going from his driving. A clean pen resulted in the winning score of 76 and his fourth title of the season.

Sly, registered as Fly, was bred in June 2007 by John Roberts of Farnhill, out of Jan and sired by his Glen. Best new handler was Joe Lowry with Sky.

Ryedale

Sandy Beaton took his second title with Bob at the Ryedale nursery, held near Pickering.

Mainly flat, the nice sized nursery course was set over one half of a large field. It could be gathered both ways, but with open ground to the right the dogs could run too wide.

Running was on Mule shearlings that remained consistent being quite touchy and difficult to pen. Elizabeth Gautier judged the entry of 39.

At 30 Philip Exelby took the lead with Perrydale Lisa, gaining 73 points until, at 36, Sandy and Bob had a steady controlled run catching all obstacles and finishing with a good pen. Scoring 81 they took the title by a clear eight points.

Bred by John Rangeley of Bolton Percy in April 2008 out of Jet, Bob was sired by Bob Harland’s Shep. Sandy bought him from his breeder at six-months-old. Rachael Murdoch won the young handlers prize with Bob.