Armagh Sporting Dog Supreme Bends Racing Championships and Showing Sunday 4th November 18.

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Armagh Sporting Dog Supreme Bends Racing Championships and Showing Sunday 4th November 18.

Situated in the shadow of the rippling waters of Lough Neagh, lies the now famous Feabridge Racing Track at  Coalisland. This haven of history was the venue for Armagh Sporting Dog Supreme Bends Racing Championships and Showing  Sunday 4^thNovember 18. And what a day of fun, frolics, good humour and friendship that was. The night before the show, the heavens opened and the rain lashed down all night , but as a new day dawned on Feaghbridge , there was not a drop of rain in sight and the ground was in good condition. 

A good turnout was expected and we certainly were not disappointed. From ten o clock onwards cars and trailers began to converge on the car park at Feaghbridge,  all loaded with dogs and families in tow. It was an experience and a first  for me, to watch all dogs been weighed before racing and placed to run  according to their weight. I must say I was very impressed with the routine, and may be worth thinking about for future racing days. Seemed very fair to me.

Some folk travelled long distances to be part of this  sporting event. Gary Farmer and Geraint Kelly Woolcock travelled from England and Liam and Conor Nolan from Roscrea in County Tipperary. Before Liam went home he gave me a handful of tickets for the Raffle. This certainly put a smile on my husband Johns face. The Raffle is always the highlight of his day. Thank you Liam for your kindness. I won a nice bottle of red wine with your tickets and thank you for your generosity. 

Kieran Neeson from Donegal was back in action again showing and racing  his dogs after his motor bike accident. Kieran is making steady progress back to health. Great to see you on the move again Kieran, and I enjoyed the catch up. 

The Racing commenced at approximately 12noon followed by  Showing. 

Here are Results from the Northern Ireland Supreme Bends Championships 2018 
 

Pedigree Whippet Bitch- 

Suzanne Addis with Poppy
 

Pedigree Whippet Dog-  

Barry Chambers with Alfie

Under 25lb Champion 

Claire Smith /Darren Smith  with That's Andy

Under 35lb Champion 

Geraint Kelly Woolcockwith Serin

Under 45lb Champion

Michael Clemmit with Jump The Gun
 

Under 55lb Champion

Geraint Kelly Woolcock with Blue 

No Limit Champion

Michelle Raffertywith Sally 
Hairy Dogs

Conor Nolan /Liam Nolan with Prince

 Bull Cross 

Kirsty Jane Harpur and Peter Pyper with Regal

Novice Small Dog 

Billy Kerry with Snowball

Novice Overs Dead Heat 

Lisa Beggs with Joker and Geraint Kelly Woolcock with Rocky

Supreme Bends Championship Veterns Cup

Susan Mc Cann with Bella

Showing Results

Childrens Handling Class

1/ Meghan Tucker with Tia

2/ Brooke Rafferty with Red

3/ Mason Thompson with Prydz

All of these little people in the class were winners. It was so nice to see the smiles on their little faces. Well done to all, you made your parents very proud. Some sleepy heads on Sunday night.

Ladies Handling Class

Carol Ann Brown with Suki

Gents Handling Class 

Barry Reavey with Sky

Whippet Bitch  

Suzanne Addis with Poppy  

Whippet Dog  

Dean Spence with Rinty 

Whippet Pup 

Colin Tucker with Cooper

Lurcher Pup  

Leigh Thompson with Jett 

U 24 Smooth 

Michelle Rafferty with Viper. 

Over 24 

Lisa Beggs with Joker

Bull x 

Lisa Beggs Cirez. 

Working Class 

Charlene Rafferty with Shifter

Hairy Lurcher  

Leigh Thompson with Thor

Champion Lurcher

Lisa Beggs with Joker

Champion Whippet

Colin Tucker with Cooper

Champion Veteran 

Susan Mc Cann with Bella

Pure Bred Greyhound 

Michelle Rafferty with Tinga Ling

Congratulations to all above winners and well done.

As the shades of night started falling and the air became icy, with racing and showing over, we headed back to the club house, where James O Neill had stoked up a well lit hearth fire. Some liquid  beverages were consumed along with some good conversation around the open fire.

And Finally, Fiona has asked me to thank her sponsors:

Ben Wagstaff and Kirsty Brunt /Joe Leonard/Charlene Martin/Susan Mc Cann/Simon Irwin and Kieran Young, for their generosity and support to her show.  

A special word of thanks to Claire and Darren Smith for judging, and also for their help and expertise with the very successful bends racing. 

And Finally, Finally, what can I say about this young lady. Yes I have left this accolade for you Fiona Devlin. Along with your partner Conor Mc Cormack you put your heart and soul into this show and raceday and pulled it off 100%. You ventured down the road of weighing for racing  with meticulous planning and proved a roaring success. The feed back has been glorious in every sense of the word. Your show was a credit to you. Simply the Best. Thank you for another very enjoyable show and raceday and we look forward to more of the same in 2019.

 

Margaret Mc Stay

 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by appleblossom