2014 National Amateur Shooting Dog Classic
The NBHA National Amateur Shooting Dog Classic began on December 13 at Berea, KY. This was the first year for the classic, coinciding with the National Amateur Invitational Championship. The running was on a second course at the Central KY wildlife Management Area. The weather was cool and over cast with little wind. Judging the stake were Greg Sloan and Brett Francis both of Kentucky.
First brace on Saturday was Firecracker for Brian Casey. Cracker ran a wide race, circling the edges causing her to come from behind a few times. She produced a solid find at 48. Brace mate was Meg for Ray Brown. Meg had a snappy close race, she produced a find at 53 but with a bit of movement.
Second brace was Stogey for Gary Vitali. Stogey had a classy forward race with an unproductive at 24. Stogey went on to have a find at 45 but was picked up for some movement on his bird work. Brace mate Guy for handler Deb Dlobik started off very nicely with a great limb find at 8. He finished the race strongly but at times seemed a bit out of contact with his handler.
Third brace was Sammy for John Dlobik. Sammy had two solid finds at 6 and 22. Sammy ran a close race along with his handler. Brace mate Money for Stanley McCain backed nicely at 22. Money went on to have a solid find at 50 but circled back on his handler a couple of times.
Fourth brace was Sam for Gary Vitali. Sam had a find at 21 with a bit of movement. The setter male seemed to handle a bit difficulty for his handler. Brace mate Asta for Adam Thomas had a good find along the edge at 9 and backed nicely at 21. However, as some of the others, looped back on occasion.
Fifth brace was Big for Brian Casey. Big hunted forward on the course in the right places. He produced a find at 9,25,50, a back at 58, and picked up one last find at 60. He ran a solid consistent race for his handler Brian. Brace mate Izzie for Ray Brown had a find at 9 and 58 with a back at 60. The pointer female handled very nicely for Ray.
Sixth and final brace was Hank being handled by Brian Casey. Hank ran a well applied, forward ground race producing a solid find at 7. Brace mate Lady for Marty Robinson ran a large race producing a great limb find at 28. The pointer female was absent for a portion of her hour.
Winners were announced as follows third place going to Izzie pointer female owned by Ray Brown. Second place Hank owned by Marty Robinson, handled by Brian Casey. Winner Big pointer male owned by Brian Casey.
We want to say thank you to our judges Greg and Brett. Also a big thanks to all of those volunteers that jumped in to help with bird planting and driving the dog wagon. We appreciate your support so much. Thanks also to Heskitt Saddleworks for a great job on creating gifts for our judges and Butch Spelbring for crafting our trophies. Big thanks also for all of the support that we received from our sponsor Purina.
Submitted by Brian & Georgie Casey
PHOTO
left to right judge Brett Francis, third place dog Rockbridge Lil Rascal with Ray Brown, second place dog Dominator with Marty Robinson, Eva Casey and Brian Casey with first place dog Rocky Hollow Big Time and judge Greg Sloan
