Irish Game & Country Fair - Final Racing Details and Admission Concessions

[up the beam 65]

Well said lurcher330

[AlbertJ 569]

why change at all ? these working dog shows have been going for years fine yes there is a few people that have a moan or two but why not leave things the way they were . i know there was alot of fuss made about a dog run in the whippet race in shanes castle that afew people said was not a whippet but if you look into this abit more you will see that the person doing alot of the moaning usally wins the whippet race when that whippet/lurcher is not there . it seems to me that you have got a bit to friendly with some people and are not seeing past these people when making calls for these shows.

 

Speedy,

 

The shows have been running for years - and if you recall very few were run before we started to run them from 1980!

 

I have spoken to many people about the whippet controversy and there is a large thread on K9 about it. Far from getting friendly with some of the KC only whippet fraternity you can see that I had very robust conversations with a few. I have taken advice from people with KC registered whippets and those with unregistered whippets.

 

We discussed a number of possible solutions with the organising club. I don't dictate to the club runing the events I make suggestions and we discuss.

 

As I said this is an interim year to try this. Other alternatives suggested by club members included classifying whippets by height/weight

as we do lurchers.

 

Yours and everyone's views on this are welcome especially after we see how the racing at Birr goes.

 

At that stage the club and I will discuss what went right and what if anything went wrong and we will take into account suggestions how the racing can be improved. Personally I am for making our shows as inclusive as possible and giving everyone the widest possible opportunities to compete fairly. and as it is not a KC registered event I do not see the whippet racing becoming a KC registered only unless the owners of unregistered dogs do not support the new class.

 

Please remember the Roscrea Club are a new club doing this and I would ask you to give them a chance.

.

[AlbertJ 569]

Albert sorry i have tried seveal times tonite to reply to your post but i am having network problems and only getting half of what im tryiny to say up each time and seem to be coming across all wrong and i supose my first post didnt help that much, but the kc registration thing realy upset me as it is something i am realy against but i will go into that later.I have been going to your game fairs for as long as i can rember long before i had working dogs and always give them my support i have no problem with you or them at all. Yes i agree with you that they are second to non in the country and that the effort time and money involved shows year after year and yes we do need to move forward but the fact that Mr Irwin is not running the terriers and lurchers anymore will be a great step forward on its own but i have been around the lurcher ring for many years seen lots of people come and go myself included and know the type of people who attend and you will always get one person bending the rules should it be a greyhound running as an over 23 or an under 23 in the whippet racing but bring kc registration papers into play will not eliminate this as you cannot link the dog to the paper work this is why greyhounds have ear markings and racing books.If this is the start of things to come i think you will see a big drop in numbers at the ring side if it was that easy sporting whippet would have been all kc racing by now but i think even they know its not practical for kc papers to be at working dog shows like this.

 

UTB,

 

Thanks for your post. You obviously feel strongly about this and I respect that. I think it was you who made the suggestion to me about an 'elite class ' for lurcher racing and as you can see we have started to take this on board albeit again in an interim fashion. As you have guessed I put my own viewes in a forthright fashion and I don't mind others putting theirs in a similar manner. BUt I think it is better all round if you decide to criticise something you make a suggestion how to improve it. As I said to Speedy above this is an interim measure for Birr only to see how it goes. But there are other ways including height/weight how reg and non reg whippets can be classified in order to give the maximum number of people the widest opportunity to compete fairly at this and other shows. BUT at the end of the day at Birr there should be no whippet excluded from racing this year.

[the low flyer 2]

Albert you and the Roscrea club are trying to help every one here I think it is a good idea but yous wouldnt have to been put

in this situation but for the one cheat Only one thing i wouldnt be in favour with is running the unreg with the under 23 lurchers

The classes you have put on are spot on by me I hope yous get a good turn out and the Roscrea club will do a great job of the

racing that i have no doubt Keep up the good work which you are putting into the gamefairs Albert

[AlbertJ 569]

Albert you and the Roscrea club are trying to help every one here I think it is a good idea but yous wouldnt have to been put

in this situation but for the one cheat Only one thing i wouldnt be in favour with is running the unreg with the under 23 lurchers

The classes you have put on are spot on by me I hope yous get a good turn out and the Roscrea club will do a great job of the

racing that i have no doubt Keep up the good work which you are putting into the gamefairs Albert

 

Thanks - the Roscrea Club are a very keen bunch of lads ( and young guys and ladies of course) and I hope they get your support. I should have said all dogs racing must be muzzled and that the race track will be securely fenced off in the interests of safety to spectators and dogs.

[lurcher330 2,297]

Albert you and the Roscrea club are trying to help every one here I think it is a good idea but yous wouldnt have to been put

in this situation but for the one cheat Only one thing i wouldnt be in favour with is running the unreg with the under 23 lurchers

The classes you have put on are spot on by me I hope yous get a good turn out and the Roscrea club will do a great job of the

racing that i have no doubt Keep up the good work which you are putting into the gamefairs Albert

 

Thanks - the Roscrea Club are a very keen bunch of lads ( and young guys and ladies of course) and I hope they get your support. I should have said all dogs racing must be muzzled and that the race track will be securely fenced off in the interests of safety to spectators and dogs.

Shane's a nice bloke i'd say him and the lads will do a great job at Birr ,they put on a good show themselves in Roscrea last year it's a pity it was'nt on this year

Edited August 4, 2011 by lurcher330

[AlbertJ 569]

Albert you and the Roscrea club are trying to help every one here I think it is a good idea but yous wouldnt have to been put

in this situation but for the one cheat Only one thing i wouldnt be in favour with is running the unreg with the under 23 lurchers

The classes you have put on are spot on by me I hope yous get a good turn out and the Roscrea club will do a great job of the

racing that i have no doubt Keep up the good work which you are putting into the gamefairs Albert

 

Thanks - the Roscrea Club are a very keen bunch of lads ( and young guys and ladies of course) and I hope they get your support. I should have said all dogs racing must be muzzled and that the race track will be securely fenced off in the interests of safety to spectators and dogs.

Shane's a nice bloke i'd say him and the lads will do a great job at Birr ,they put on a good show themselves in Roscrea last year it's a pity it was'nt on this year

 

Shane and the Roscrea team are very keen and open to new ideas and I look forward to working with them to develop the racing side of Birr into something that everyone is happy with.

[lurcher330 2,297]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

[Casso 1,261]

im not sure offering prize money in the fair for these events is correct in a situation where people see the day, as a fun day out ,bit of craic ,and a chance to meet up with old faces from other areas,,in my opinion your only asking for trouble,,

[AlbertJ 569]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

 

Lurcher 330

The two classes are as advertised KC registered and Unregistered Whippets. I think this is an advance on having just one class for 'Whippets'. It is up to the club to decided what is a whippet on the day. This is the way it will be run this year but we have discussed classifying them by weight/height for future events. Your suggestions are welcome.

 

AlbertJ

[AlbertJ 569]

im not sure offering prize money in the fair for these events is correct in a situation where people see the day, as a fun day out ,bit of craic ,and a chance to meet up with old faces from other areas,,in my opinion your only asking for trouble,,

 

Casso,

 

Thanks for your comment but we offer prize money for all of our other competitions. Are you really saying that terrier, whippet and lurcher people can't compete fairly, or with good sportsmanship say like gundog guys or clay shooters.

 

I would be extremely disappointed if this was the case. In fact with the Master Mc Grath final where there a large prize was at stake I was greatly impressed by the sportsmanship demonstrated by the three finalists and I have to say especially by Shane Lee who had travelled the furthest and had two dogs qualified which came 3rd and 4th and was out of the actual prizes.

Albertj

[lurcher330 2,297]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

 

Lurcher 330

The two classes are as advertised KC registered and Unregistered Whippets. I think this is an advance on having just one class for 'Whippets'. It is up to the club to decided what is a whippet on the day. This is the way it will be run this year but we have discussed classifying them by weight/height for future events. Your suggestions are welcome.

 

AlbertJ

will the showing be the same because if so there is no reason why the terriers should not be the same so that say the border terriers and Lakelands should have to show their papers on the day to enter their class and if the sportsmanship is true on the day there should be no need to show papers at all if the dogs cant race together why should they be showed together.the KC hold their own events and dont get involved in ours so why should we be inviting them in.IMHO Albert i just dont think some people should be excluded from races which will have a lot less dogs in them which means less fun for the owner because they were'nt bothered on maybe could'nt afford a registered whippet.YIS Lurcher 330

Edited August 4, 2011 by lurcher330

[AlbertJ 569]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

 

Lurcher 330

The two classes are as advertised KC registered and Unregistered Whippets. I think this is an advance on having just one class for 'Whippets'. It is up to the club to decided what is a whippet on the day. This is the way it will be run this year but we have discussed classifying them by weight/height for future events. Your suggestions are welcome.

 

AlbertJ

will the showing be the same because if so there is no reason why the terriers should not be the same so that say the border terriers and Lakelands should have to show their papers on the day to enter their class and if the sportsmanship is true on the day there should be no need to show papers at all if the dogs cant race together why should they be showed together.the KC hold their own events and dont get involved in ours so why should we be inviting them in.IMHO Albert i just dont think some people should be excluded from races which will have a lot less dogs in them which means less fun for the owner because they were'nt bothered on maybe could'nt afford a registered whippet.YIS Lurcher 330

 

Lurcher 330

 

This arose because of controversy over what should be regarded as a whippet. Suggestions for this split came up and for this show that is the way it is done. While it may not please everyone surely it is better to have two classes rather than one and two lots of prizes. No one knows what the result will be in terms of entries in each class.

We have no intention of having the KC involved in the racing this was simply one way of splitting the whippets into two classes.

 

Depending on results, feedback and suggestions we may change this for our shows next year.

But why not give it a go this time round and discuss the results. The organising club and I have also discussed splitting the whippets by height/weight and we are happy to listen to the views on this. What we are doing is trying to be as inclusive as possible and as far as possible facilitating the running of like with like.

Albertj

[lurcher330 2,297]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

 

Lurcher 330

The two classes are as advertised KC registered and Unregistered Whippets. I think this is an advance on having just one class for 'Whippets'. It is up to the club to decided what is a whippet on the day. This is the way it will be run this year but we have discussed classifying them by weight/height for future events. Your suggestions are welcome.

 

AlbertJ

will the showing be the same because if so there is no reason why the terriers should not be the same so that say the border terriers and Lakelands should have to show their papers on the day to enter their class and if the sportsmanship is true on the day there should be no need to show papers at all if the dogs cant race together why should they be showed together.the KC hold their own events and dont get involved in ours so why should we be inviting them in.IMHO Albert i just dont think some people should be excluded from races which will have a lot less dogs in them which means less fun for the owner because they were'nt bothered on maybe could'nt afford a registered whippet.YIS Lurcher 330

 

Lurcher 330

 

This arose because of controversy over what should be regarded as a whippet. Suggestions for this split came up and for this show that is the way it is done. While it may not please everyone surely it is better to have two classes rather than one and two lots of prizes. No one knows what the result will be in terms of entries in each class.

We have no intention of having the KC involved in the racing this was simply one way of splitting the whippets into two classes.

 

Depending on results, feedback and suggestions we may change this for our shows next year.

But why not give it a go this time round and discuss the results. The organising club and I have also discussed splitting the whippets by height/weight and we are happy to listen to the views on this. What we are doing is trying to be as inclusive as possible and as far as possible facilitating the running of like with like.

Albertj

I suppose you cant please everyone so we will see how it goes i hope it goes well and it changes my mind so the best of luck with it and i will see ye at Birr

[AlbertJ 569]

will the unreg whippets be in a different race than the non ped whippets because there is a big difference

 

Lurcher 330

The two classes are as advertised KC registered and Unregistered Whippets. I think this is an advance on having just one class for 'Whippets'. It is up to the club to decided what is a whippet on the day. This is the way it will be run this year but we have discussed classifying them by weight/height for future events. Your suggestions are welcome.

 

AlbertJ

will the showing be the same because if so there is no reason why the terriers should not be the same so that say the border terriers and Lakelands should have to show their papers on the day to enter their class and if the sportsmanship is true on the day there should be no need to show papers at all if the dogs cant race together why should they be showed together.the KC hold their own events and dont get involved in ours so why should we be inviting them in.IMHO Albert i just dont think some people should be excluded from races which will have a lot less dogs in them which means less fun for the owner because they were'nt bothered on maybe could'nt afford a registered whippet.YIS Lurcher 330

 

Lurcher 330

 

This arose because of controversy over what should be regarded as a whippet. Suggestions for this split came up and for this show that is the way it is done. While it may not please everyone surely it is better to have two classes rather than one and two lots of prizes. No one knows what the result will be in terms of entries in each class.

We have no intention of having the KC involved in the racing this was simply one way of splitting the whippets into two classes.

 

Depending on results, feedback and suggestions we may change this for our shows next year.

But why not give it a go this time round and discuss the results. The organising club and I have also discussed splitting the whippets by height/weight and we are happy to listen to the views on this. What we are doing is trying to be as inclusive as possible and as far as possible facilitating the running of like with like.

Albertj

I suppose you cant please everyone so we will see how it goes i hope it goes well and it changes my mind so the best of luck with it and i will see ye at Birr

 

Lurcher 330,

 

Thanks for keeping an open mind until after the event . At that stage we welcome feedback and positive suggestions. We DO listen to suggestions. I thank all those who emailed me their comments and those who have taken advantage of the ADVANCED PAYMENT concessions. Please note anyone else wanting to take advantage of these concessions they are only available for advanced purchase.

AlbertJ