updated
2/11/01
Petplan Junior Stakes Grand Final What the judges said... It was a great honour and privilege to be invited to judge at the Grand Final of the Petplan Junior Stakes. I thank the staff at Petplan for their very kind hospitality. With Andrew Brace giving the commentary, Keith and June Young completely in charge of the ring and Jill Peak organising the fourteen heats at the championship shows throughout the year. The organisation and timing of the event was bound to be a complete success in every way. To judge at this final is very different to judging at any other show, due to the system of allocating points out of 10 for conformation, breed type, and movement, followed by the allocation of points for "star quality". I must admit to feeling a little apprehensive about this before the start of judging. But when one is judging along with two of the countries top lady judges I soon felt at ease. Surprisingly with 28 dogs and three judges our opinions did differ greatly and the top five dogs soon became apparent. In addition to the top five dogs there were several who will make a great impact on the dog scene in 2002, but unfortunately the system only allows for five. The
Petplan Junior of the Year was the Pekingese Yakee Leaving Me Breathless.
A small well balanced quality dog, lovely head with good pigmentation,
profuse coat, moved round the ring with great style. 2 The Norwich Terrier
Ch Ragus Name Your Poison, a short compact dog very stylish never stopped
showing. 3 The Lhasa Apso Saxonsprings Secret Dream. This lovely puppy
bitch, correct in every way. Lovely head, gd coat & super topline both
when stood and on the move. Moved round the ring with great style. 4 The
Italian Greyhound Salatini Symphony. A lovely elegant and graceful hound.
Correct size, has great ring presence, I'm sure she will gain her third
CC in he near future. 5 The Miniature Poodle, Navarre is Explicit. Lovely
black b, super head, nice dark eye, short backed, exc coat, moved v soundly.
How enjoyable to judge at this prestigious event. The venue, Eastnor Castle, is I think one of the best that Petplan uses. The hospitality is superb as is the organisation of the event by Keith Young and helpers. First was the Pekingese Yakee Leaving Me Breathless, I loved his head, all you would want and black pigment so essential on nose, lips and eyes, small, well balanced , sound steady mover, in excellent coat, lovely to handle. Second, so close for me the Norwich Ch Ragus Name Your Poison, super dog, head, balance, compact and strong, correct substance and bone, correct movement. Third, the Lhasa Apso Saxonsprings Secret Dreams, well balanced, sturdy, moved soundly, beautifully put down and handled. Fourth, the Italian Greyhound, Salatini Symphony, elegant and graceful, good head, fine strong bone, moved well.
Fifth, the Min Poodle, Navarre is Explicit, well balanced and elegant,
fine head, good eye, straight front, deep chest, well bent stifles, sound
free light mover. This year's final was held at Eastnor Castle, situated between Malvern and Ledbury, really handy for me. It is a super venue and the chef is good too. The finals were held in a marquee connected to the castle; there were 28 finalists and all were present. The high standard of exhibits gave the judges, Valerie Foss, Martin Freeman and myself, a hard task. Each judge marks the dog out of ten points for conformation, ten for breed type and then ten for movement. Each judge then has their own steward who gives in their judges points to be collated with the other two judges' figures. Until the final top five are announced no-one knows which dogs will be coming in for the final placings. There was a knowledgeable audience watching; this year, as well as invited guests, seats for the competition and a super lunch in the Grand Hall of the castle were available to other interested parties. The five finalists placed by the points system were: 1 Pekingese Yakee Leaving Me Breathless; 2 Norwich Ch Ragus Name Your Poison, who won after a tie over 3 Lhasa Apso Saxonsprings Secret Dreams; 4 Italian Greyhound Salatini Symphony; 5 Min Poodle Navarre Is Explicit. The
hospitality afforded to everyone was excellent and appreciated by all
who attended this smooth running event.
|