A very successful Spring campaign
came to an early conclusion on April 30 with all 6 SRK Master dogs
qualified for the ’05 AKC Master National. The numbers were
impressive—Steve’s Master crew passed at a rate of over
78%, while the rest of the field passed only 25% of the time! Stormy,
Lizzie, Sugar, Breeze, Lucky and Sonny barnstormed through test
after test, with Lucky passing his first Master before his 2nd birthday
and titling at 24 months. Twice, at Rose Country RC and Alamo RC,
Steve passed every dog entered.
’04
Master Natl. Finalists Ruby and Rose missed the entire Spring with
maternity duties. By June, they were back in shape and headed north
for a short road trip with Steve’s associate, Lyle Steinman
of Gower, Missouri. Never missing a beat, the talented pair reeled
off 4 straight passes to qualify for the ’05 National. This
gives Steve a total of 8 to run at the prestigious event, which
is set for Oct. 9-16 in Palestine, Texas.
Bailey, who
ran and passed her first Master at Ozark on April 30, also made
the road trip. Lyle put 2 more passes on her, but her young age
and late start left her 2 short of qualifying by the July 31 cut-off
date.
Earlier in the Spring, Lucky
and Bailey gained their Senior titles before moving up to Master
level. Both quickly made their presence known among the “Big
Boys”, with Lucky reeling off 5 straight to gain his MH.
In the Junior, owners Mike Davis
and Lee Brophy handled their youngsters, Max and Buddy, to Junior
Hunter titles before their 1st birthday. Their pass rate was 100%.
Scroll down to read a detailed,
week-by-week account of each Hunt Test.
Spring
2005 Titles To Date:
MASTER
Qualified & Entered in ’05 Master National
1. Sugar
Bullet, M.H. ’03 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Jack O’Connor III
2. Doc’s
Perfect Storm, M.H. ’04 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Stephen Anderson
3. Watermark’s
Cool Breeze, M.H. ’03 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Carlos Vaquero
4. Nick’s
Chocolate Rose, M.H. ’04 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Jim Mackey
5. Robbins
Red Ruby, M.H. ’04 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Chris Robbins
6. Rebel’s
Best Son, M.H.
Owner: Glen Coterill
7. Toothacres Lean Mac Lizzy, M.H. ’04 Master Natl. Finalist
Owner: Casey Clem
8. TJ’s
Lucky Draw, M.H.
Owner: Terry Jackson
SENIOR
Bailey's On The Rocks, S.H.
Owner: Heath Grant
TJ's Lucky Draw, S.H.
Owner: Terry Jackson
JUNIOR
Lone Star's Maximum Mischief, J.H.
Owner/Handler: Mike Davis
Lee's Lean Running Buddy, J.H.
Owner/Handler: Lee Brophy
’05
AKC Master National Results
Steve has 4 Finalists!
This year’s
Master National was held at Big Woods on the Trinity Ranch near
Palestine, Texas. The ’05 event was one of the longest and
most demanding Master Nationals ever; running 10 full series (6
marking tests and 4 blind retrieve tests) run in 6 different hunting
scenarios.
The last series
was a long, difficult duck hunting test featuring a triple water
mark with a double water blind. With 5 birds to retrieve, taking
almost 10 minutes per dog, owners and handlers grew nervous as both
test dogs failed to do adequate work.
Steve started
the National with 8 dogs, but after a week of tests, he went to
the final series with 4: Ruby, Sonny, Breeze and Sugar. About 60%
of the field had already been eliminated.
All 4 SRK
dogs had great jobs on the test and were awarded the silver plate
of a Master National Finalist. This marked the second time that
Breeze, Sugar and Ruby had finished a National thereby attaining
a new title of Master National Hunter (MNH). One more finish will
put them in the Master National Hall of Fame.
Only 34% of
the field passes this year’s National. Lyle Steinman of Missouri
and Doug Shade of Washington tied for top honors among handlers,
with both passing 6 dogs.
Steve was
next with 4 Finalists, tied with Ronnie Lee of Mississippi.
Diagrams,
pictures and other info on the ’05 Master National can be
found at www.masternational.com.
Event
Breakdowns
Feb. 26-27, 2005
NELA Test Nets 4 Master Passes; Lucky Gets SH
The Northeast Louisiana Retriever
Club test was held in the swampy duck marshes of the Beouf River
near Hebert, LA. Once again, the rain which was forecast held
off and the roads remained fairly dry.
The Master started off amid
a sizeable goose decoy spread in a flat field. Depth perception
caused a lot of problems on the marks, but a short, tempting
live flyer caused even more. In all, about 8 or 9 dogs broke,
including Lucky (running his first Master), and more surprising,
Sonny! The other 4 Master dogs turned in good work.
The 2nd and 3rd series moved
to a duck marsh with lots of wild ducks in the area. The last
series required the dogs to sit on a floating dog platform in
the marsh. No SRK dogs were lost in either series. Stormy’s
work was so impressive in the last series that Judge Fred Riley
of Mississippi stood up and demanded applause from the gallery.
Lizzie, Stormy, Sugar and
Breeze all passed, while the rest of the field went 10 for 25.
Including the SRK crew, the overall pass rate was 14 for 31.
In the Senior on Saturday,
Lucky finished his SH title with owner Terry Jackson looking
on. Annie and Bailey both passed in their Senior debut.
NELA was running a Double
Senior for the weekend. In the Sunday Senior, Bailey passed
with flawless work and Annie broke on the honor after doing
a nice job in the first series.
March 5-6, 2005
Stormy Qualifies for Master National, Lucky Gets First Master
Pass
The Bryan-College Station Master
got off to a rough start for most competitors as they faced what
was surely the most severe challenge to steadiness in the history
of hunt tests.
The first series was a goose
hunt in a rye grass field with a huge spread of approx. 100 decoys.
Three shooters in layout blinds lay flat on their backs at the
back edge of the spread and did all the shooting. Behind them,
2 “guides” and their retrievers, one working and one
honoring, were also on their backs in layout blinds.
The test was strictly a breaking
test, as all three marks came out of the same small clump of trees
and all were quite short. The last bird out was a live flyer angled
back in toward the line which was shot point blank, falling about
5-10 yards away from the dog. With the handler lying down, it
proved very difficult to prevent a break.
If you were able to hold steady,
a double blind followed the marks. Then, of course, came the honor.
In all, only 21 out of 50 dogs
survived this test, and virtually all of those eliminated were
due to breaks. Lucky, Stormy and Breeze turned in excellent work,
while Sugar, Lizzie and Sonny broke.
3 more dogs were lost in the
2nd series water triple, leaving 18 to run the last series, a
tough land/water triple with a very difficult water blind.
Only 11 dogs survived this
series to get their ribbon. Lucky, Stormy and Breeze turned in
outstanding work in the last series. Breeze was the only dog to
go through all 3 series without a handle on the marks. With only
11 out of 50 passing, the overall pass rate was 22%, but 3 out
of 6 SRK dogs made the grade.
Lucky, only 1 year, 11 months
of age, earned his first Master pass. Stormy made it 3 for 3 in
the Master this Spring, which qualifies her for the ’05
Master National.
In the Junior, owner Mike Davis
guided Max to passes in both Junior stakes and handled the job
like a real pro.
Mar.
19-20
SRK Dogs Roll at Waterloo Test
The Waterloo
Master started off with a demanding triple mark/double setup. The
marks were an “inverted triple” (short middle bird,
long right-hand bird, long left flyer down last).
The short,
middle mark in heavy cover caused lots of problems, as the dogs
would overrun it and head up toward the right-hand bird. Breeze,
Sugar, Lucky, Sonny and Stormy all turned in excellent work, with
only Lizzie dropping out. In all, only 21 of 41 dogs were called
back for the 2nd series.
The 2nd featured
very tight marks and almost every dog in the field handled on at
least one bird—except the SRK crew. All 5 did the test “clean”.
15 were called back for the last series.
The 3rd series
featured a big water triple on a “technical pond”, followed
by a long water blind of approx. 175 yards. Most of field (except
for the SRK crew) already had several “door dings” and
could ill afford another misstep. This was a long test, running
12-15 minutes per dog due to the long swims.
Again, all
5 SRK dogs turned in excellent work. Sonny, Breeze, Sugar and Stormy
were “clean” through all 3 series, the only dogs in
the field to do so. Youngster Lucky, not yet, 2 also passed.
The final accounting
showed 5 of 6 from the SRK team passing. The rest of the field could
only manage 2 of 33.
In the Senior,
both Annie and Bailey passed, with Bailey nailing all the marks.
She is one point away from her SH.
In the Junior,
Mike Davis handled Max to his JH title and Lee Brophy debuted Buddy
in fine fashion with excellent work both days.
Mar.
26-27, 2005
Hot Streak Continues at Shreveport:
Lizzie Qualifies for Natl., Bailey Gets Senior Title
The Shreveport Master opened with a land triple/land blind setup.
The test was rather straightforward, but still managed to cut the
field from 27 to 19. All SRK dogs did excellent work on this test
with no handles.
The 2nd series
Water Triple/Double Blind proved to be very demanding. The 2 memory
birds were not far apart across a marshy pond with very high cover
along the edge.
Once the marks
were recovered, surviving dogs ran the blinds. The water blind was
quite long, across the pond through hydrilla-type cover and into
a very narrow slot which required tight control.
11 dogs made
it through this series. Lizzie, Stormy, and Lucky had outstanding
clean work, while Sonny, Sugar, and Breeze handled on one bird.
All the SRK crew completed the work, but Breeze was dropped after
a sloppy water blind.
No dogs were
lost in the 3rd series, leaving 5 of the SRK dogs with passing scores.
The rest of the field went 6 for 21.
Lizzie bounced
back from a bad outing last week to turn in a brilliant performance,
which qualified her for the Master National. Stormy is also “in
the clubhouse” and the rest of the crew is close behind, needing
only 1 or 2 more passes.
In the Senior,
the land series took a toll, with only 9 out of 19 starters called
back. Bailey and Annie did well.
The last series
was yet another severe breaking test, with shots and calls off the
line and a very short 2nd bird (approx. 15 yds.). Upon completing
the marks, a channel blind through a narrow corridor in the cattails
proved challenging. If this could be completed, the honor proved
even more hazardous—the honor bucket was placed within 5 feet
of the winger station for the short bird.
Both Bailey
and Annie did excellent work on this test, but once again, Annie
could not handle the honor. Bailey remained steady and attained
her Senior Hunter Title. In all, only 3 dogs passed.
Lucky
Closing In On Master Title
Heart of Texas
April 2-3, 5005
The Heart of Texas Test was held on new grounds on the Ft. Hood
Military Reservation at Lake Belton. Steep limestone cliffs loomed
from the far shoreline, while Apache helicopters circled above and
M1Abrams tanks boomed just over the hill.
The first Master
setup was a complex test. On a walkup, a single dead duck was thrown,
landing on bare ground about 25 yards away. The dog was then pulled
off of the mark and sent on a blind retrieve which went past the
“poison bird” on the upwind side.
If the blind
was successfully completed, 2 long birds were thrown as marks. The
“go” bird threaded the needle between the blind and
the short (poison) bird. Most picked the “go” bird up
first, but several dogs self-selected the short bird, which made
the long marks more difficult. The best way to do the test was go
bird, short bird, long left bird.
Lucky ran first
and did the test clean. Lizzie was next and had perfect work. Then
disaster struck.
Just as Stormy
came up to run, the light southerly wind switched to the north.
The result of this was that Stormy winded the long left bird while
hunting in the area of the long right (go) bird and she was out.
This marked the end of a long winning streak for Stormy.
In the next
few minutes, the wind continued to pick up and it became apparent
that the wind change was permanent. It was now impossible to get
the go bird first, as both of the other marks blew scent across
the line to this bird. The test was now a “primary selection”
test, i.e. the short bird had to be selected first, then the long
left bird, and the go bird last.
Sonny couldn’t
handle the change-up and was picked up. Breeze, with more experience,
accomplished the primary selection in good order, although with
a quick handle on the last bird.
In all, most
of the dogs that ran before the wind change were called back, while
most of the later dogs were lost. The sudden, unforeseen wind change
was frustrating to the judges as well as the handlers. The field
of 47 was cut to 26.
The 2nd and
3rd series were uneventful. Lizzie, Lucky and Breeze all performed
flawlessly in both series. In all, 18 dogs passed. The SRK crew
went 3 for 5, while the rest of the field managed 15 out of 42.
Sugar did not run due to coming in season. Breeze, Lucky and Sugar
need 1 more point to qualify for the Master National.
Annie passed
the Senior with excellent blinds, but sloppy marks. This was her
last test as part of the SRK crew before she goes to her new owner
in Cape Cod.
Next stop:
Alamo, April 16-17.
CLEAN
SWEEP AT ALAMO
Lucky, Sugar & Breeze Qualify for Natl.
April 16-17
Alamo’s
new grounds were typical South Texas Brush Country. Game was abundant,
including sub-tropical species such as Black-bellied Tree Ducks.
The tests were
fairly typical Master tests. The highest failure rate came in the
1st series-a walkup water triple with a fairly long water blind.
There were quite a few handles on both memory birds, and the blind
also had some casualties.
More dogs were
lost in the 2nd and 3rd, but all 6 SRK dogs had excellent work throughout.
In fact, Lizzie’s quick handle in the 2nd series was the only
handle on a mark for the entire weekend!
In all, 17
out of 40 dogs passed. The SRK gang went 6 for 6, while the remainder
of the field passed 11 of 34.
The big story,
of course, was Lucky’s 5th consecutive Master pass, which
gains him his MH title and qualifies him for the Master National.
This comes just 12 days after his 2nd birthday. Sugar and Breeze
also qualified, making a total of 5 SRK dogs National qualified
so far.
The other big
story of the weekend was Sonny’s gutsy performance, overcoming
a painful foot injury suffered in training last week. A puncture
wound to his right foot was swollen Saturday morning to the extent
that he was hobbling on the leg right up to the moment he ran. Although
the injury is not serious, it looked very doubtful he could run.
After several
hours of sitting on the truck listening to gunshots, Sonny announced
he was ready to go. After limping to the line, the birds went down
and Sonny took off in a flash. Upon recovering each bird, he would
hobble back to the line on 3 legs. Despite his handicap, he had
one of the top jobs in the first series, drawing a big round of
applause from the gallery.
The foot had
improved by Sunday morning, when he turned in another outstanding
performance. Sonny now needs only 1 more point to qualify for the
National. He will take this week off to heal up and should be back
to full speed by Ozark on April 30.
SRK
Dogs Dominate Ozark
Sonny Qualifies for Natl., Bailey Impressive in Master Debut
April 30-May 1
Different State.
Same Results. The SRK team made the scenic drive to the Arkansas
hills and finished up the Spring with another strong showing. Lizzie
went home for “Summer Break” this week and her place
was taken by Bailey, 22 months old and fresh off her Senior title.
33 starters
tried the opening walkup Triple/Double Blind with 26 surviving to
face the 2nd Series on a technical pond. This test proved too much
for many dogs and only 11 were called back for the last series,
including all 6 SRK dogs. Another pro didn’t fare so well,
with none of his 7 dogs called back for the 3rd Series!
The last series
was a Water Triple/Water Blind combo. Steve’s old friend,
Phil Brown of Missouri had 3 dogs still in. Steve and Phil have
faced off in the last series of many field trials in days past,
so this was a familiar setting. Lucky was the only casualty in this
test due to a break. It appeared that 3 series in one day was a
bit much for the high-rolling youngster.
In all, the
SRK crew went 5 for 6, while the rest of the field passed only 5
of 27. Among those were Steve’s training partners, Dave Renner
and Thor, who qualified for the Master National.
Bailey, the
youngest dog in the field, turned in a solid performance. She will
be heading north with Lyle Steinman in her campaign to join the
rest of the SRK team at the Master National.
Aside from
Bailey, the other 6 Master dogs are now all qualified for the Natl.
and will be going home for a break.
