The Sew What Split Pairs Final
By Gemma Hanekom

What a fantastic final! Our judge Martin Posnette had built a wonderful course which left dogs on level pegging regardless of size but it still was very fast and exciting!

First to run was the Small pair of Bex Surplice and her partner Kathryn Whalley. The pair set off and completed a fantastic double clear... only to find the timing had failed! They opted to re-run at the end.

Next up was Lu Carter and Wendy Clay, another pair of Small dogs. They ran an awesome double clear which definately gave the others something to aim for! Greg Derrett with Detox and Karen Laker with her baby Torro were next. Torro was first with a lovely clear followed by the crazy Detox. D was running well but hit the weaves so fast she couldn't stay in properly. What a shame as it was looking good! Jenny Willis and Di Graves were in next. With a fluid and smooth double clear, they pipped the half pints to take the lead, both handlers making the course look easy!

Lucie Hinchley and Leila Stretch ran another fantastic double clear placing them 3rd, followed by Gemma Miles and Hilary Denyer with another good run and into 4th!

Lu and Stu Carter were looking good with Spooks and Riff but 5f a piece put them out of the running. Chris Brown and Debbie Styles followed with more clear rounds, just not quite fast enough to earn a top spot. Sue Choux and Sally Jones earned a double E. Then Mr Laker sadly got an E pushing him and Karen out of the places.

Our Junior and penultimate pair Alex Finnie and Lizzie Landwade earned a unfortunate E and  a clear, followed By Wendy Clay and Roger van de Laarschot with the same. Could Lu & Stu Carter snatch the lead with their experienced dogs Tyke and Storm? Sadly no, an Elimination put them way down.

Last to run was our Small pair who ran first- Bex and Kathryn. Could they take a trophy? They gave it their all and yes, they flew round taking 3rd place!

What a fast and exciting final. The sun shone. The Beer flowed and cheering and shouting made the final fun. Both sponsors, competitors and supporters had a wonderful end to the day!

Thanks again to Martin for judging.

Results

The Dog-Games Beginners Steeplechase Challenge Final
By Lucie Corrie

The Beginners Steeplechase Final, sponsored by www.DOG-GAMES.co.uk, was held on 23^-24 August at Staverton August BH Show in Cheltenham. The event was held at the end of the day once the rings had finished, and across two days to encompass all heights competing. It was designed to provide a competition for beginners over Steeplechase courses – jumps and tunnels only, with the emphasis being on fun and confidence building.

To qualify for the final, those competing at Beginners level in Steeplechase competed at seven heats across the country, where the top three from each height were invited forward. The finals were judged by Martin Posnette who has a reputation for lovely fast flowing courses and he didn’t disappoint us in the final.

On Saturday, the Toy and Standard dogs ran with the former going first. The excitement was building and some stunning runs really set the benchmark for the Toys with only two seconds separating the top four. A couple of handlers took short cuts at the end, missing a vital tunnel and thus being eliminated in the rush for the finish line, but it was Lynda Stokes and Charlie, a Bichon Frise, who pulled out all the stops, beating Tracy Ryan and her young dog Lily into 2^nd by 0.35 secs.

Toy Dogs

Next up were the Standard dogs, with Sorcha Price and Ceili setting the pace with a clear round in 28.69 secs. Lucy Waldron and Missy ran 7^th in a cracking time of 25.57 so the following handlers knew they had to run fast to catch her. It was Andy Sandercock and Kyp who had the speed and accuracy, going clear and winning the class in an amazing 23.11 seconds, despite best efforts from David Penfold and Iris Richard running 19^th & 20^th who came really close, finishing 2^nd and 3^rd.

Standard Dogs

On Sunday, the Midi and Maxi dogs were ready to try their luck over the same course. The sun was just holding out above us. The Midi dogs were drawn first, and they worked the course well with many clear rounds despite those 'Spaniel' distractions – i.e. with noses close to the floor. It is quite a challenge to keep them focused on the jumps and tunnels! Again, the clear rounds were close, with only two seconds between the top five.

Zoe Dingle ran two dogs, doing really well to go clear in both, and putting her in 2^nd and 6^th position, but Vivien Watts with Tasha, an English Cocker Spaniel, put in a stunning round, going clear and winning the class in 31.4 seconds.

Midi Dogs

Last up were the Maxi dogs who pushed round this course in some fast times, leaving only one second between the top five. There was some friendly competition between some experienced handlers and their young dogs, and the crowd really got behind them as they tried to beat their rivals.

A blistering time was set when Kate Howlett and Obi ran, 0.5 seconds faster than experienced handler Bridget Fletcher and Kye. The run of the night, however, was from Fiona Walker and Kenzie, who was happy to be running at all following a hard time with illness. Kenzie stretched out beautifully, shaving just under 0.2 seconds off Sally Jones and Rudi, and winning the class in style.

Maxi Dogs

Thank you
UKA & the Staverton Team would like to say a huge thank you to Sally and Sean from www.Dog-Games.co.uk who supported and sponsored the whole event. We look forward to another great year ahead. Thank you also to those who helped on the night to make the finals run smoothly, and special thanks to our judge Martin Posnette.

The Dog-Games Beginners Steeplechase Challenge 2009 Heats will be announced shortly. Please see the UKA website for details www.ukagility.com

2008 Games Challenge Final

The first Games Challenge Final, sponsored by Kim Hunt, was held on 12 July this year at the Derbyshire Agility Club Show in Derbyshire. This totally unique final is held over two rounds of competition under UKA games rules - firstly a Gamblers course and secondly a Snooker course. The total results from each round are added together and the winner is the competitor who has the most overall points in the fastest time. This years Judge was Lee Amos.

There were some fabulous prizes to be won and they were on show prior to the event. Every competitor was to win a rosette a toy for their dog and some treats, too with placed rosettes to 8th. The runner-up received a beautiful engraved trophy with a photograph by John Ord actually within the trophy and a goody bag full of toys and treats for their dog. The Winner received a larger similar trophy and photograph by John Ord and  a bigger goody bag and best of all and unique to this competition they also were given a voucher with a choice of 50 different adventures days. The Judge, Lee, received a beautiful cut class whisky tumbler as a thank you for providing such brilliant courses.

In order to qualify for the final any competitor - regardless of their dog’s jumping height or the level at which they compete - has to win three games classes throughout the previous year. Therefore, all the competitors eligible for this final managed at least three wins in games classes during 2007.

This year, 24 dogs and handlers qualified for the final with 14 of them taking part as follows:-

The Drama of a Final
This final was not short of drama with one competitor, Paul Hinchley and Fagin - the last to go in the first round -   dramatically falling over just before the finish line in the Gamblers. Paul made an amazing recovery to finish in the lead

Greg Derrett and GT, the favourites to win the competition, had probably travelled further than anyone to a UK final, landing back in the country from Canada the previous day. Still suffering from jet lag, he missed sending his dog over the finish line, thereby having missed the gamble and forfeiting all his points in that round!

The only thing to mar a perfect final for organiser Kim Hunt was the fact that the two competitors who had dashed from the Rugby show arrived 12 minutes after the final had begun and, therefore, sadly were unable to compete under the Games Challenge rules.

The Competition
The fourteen remaining finalists where certainly ready to do battle in this amazing competition.  What the Games Challenge does, is open the competition up to everyone regardless of dogs height and speed and is more of a challenge to the handlers ability to figure out the best possible course for their dog on which they can gain the most points possible.

The Gamblers Course 

Course Time Opening Sequence 30 seconds Gamble Time A-E 15 Seconds

The challenge commenced with the Standard height dogs followed by Toys, then Midi and finally, the Large height. After the first round the competition was wide open with the scores as follows:-

First Round Results

 The Snooker Course

Course Time 48 seconds. Maximum score possible 51

With everything to play for, it was clear that every competitor was going to give it their all and with the heights running order reversed and the competitors sorted into highest place running last it turned out that the running order meant Paul Hinchley was now the very last handler to run. Nothing was certain and everyone had to do well in the Snooker round to have any chance of winning!

The whole crowd were keeping score so they knew just what was happening throughout the final, they had score cards to fill in, and as the score could not be announced in the commentary for fear of giving the other competitors hidden out of sight an unfair advantage on those who ran earlier they were given the scores on a white board. So the tension began to mount!

Snooker Results