East Anglian Whippet Club

My thanks to the club committee for the invitation to judge dogs at their Championship show, and especially for the beautiful judge’s gift which I will always treasure. A lovely entry and one I very much enjoyed judging. I was looking for a scopy, elegant, sound Whippet, free moving with daisycutting action, and fortunately there were quite a number that a fitted the bill, the higher classes being very strong. No bad mouths or poor temperaments, and my hands were clean at the end of the day. Some at the top end of the height range but overall a really nice quality entry.

DOGS

Baby Puppy D (3,1 abs) 1, Best Baby Puppy, Winkley-Balmer’s Edenwhip If I Can Dream; 4 month old fawn, raw of course but very well balanced, excellent front with good depth for age, well ribbed up, pleasing head, moved freely in profile and clean out and back; 2, Price’s Keirpark It’s Now or Never among Silkdance, silver brindle nearly 6 months, again a very good front with good forechest and depth, scopy and with good width of thigh, pleasing masculine head. Not moving with the freedom of 1 as he was not being very co-operative today.

MPD (5) 1, BPD, Doherty’s Silkridge Jingle My Bells, red brindle, scopy type who stands over a lot of ground, elegant with balanced angulation, nice front with enough forechest, clean out and back and had lovely free-flowing profile movement; just needs to drop in brisket a bit and looked rather less the finished article than the bitch puppy; 2, Sykes’ Veredon Bobs Your Uncle, f/w with a very nice outline, compact with plenty of curves, good length and width of loin, strong rear, enough depth for age. Not the free stride in profile of 1, lifting a bit in front; 3, Perkins’ Silkridge Figgy Pudding with Zeglynn.

PD (2) 1, Schofield’s Bowdonia No Way Jose at Runforest, another nice puppy with a typy head, good front, tight feet, plenty of depth and well ribbed up, moved pretty well, just flattening his topline a little on the move; 2, Bingham’s Velnador Rebel Rebel, slightly taller masculine youngster with plenty of scope, nice well muscled rear, good shoulder and upper arm but yet to fill in front, therefore front movement a little untidy though plenty of drive behind.

JD (8,1) Good class and a close decision. 1, Howgate & Hull’s Palmik Never Too Late JW, scopy unexaggerated fawn who stands over a lot of ground, good for size, excellent front and feet, good turn of stifle, clean limbs and covers the ground well with his free daisycutting action; 2, Williams’ Starceylon Bella Notte at Tigisle, striking black in gleaming coat and condition, correct topline and good length of loin, strong well let down hocks, well ribbed up. Moved very well without quite the freedom of 1; 3, Sawer’s Boughton Berberis.

YD (3) 1, Wilton Clark’s Ch Shalfleet Oliver Twist JW, light brindle/w with so much to like; mature and compact, lovely head type, good length of neck into well laid shoulder, deep brisket and topline held on the move, excellent front and matching angles behind, moved with plenty of drive, considered for top honours; 2, Rodgers’ Wentvalley Pied Piper, br/w with a very nice chiselled head and fine ears, good feet and pasterns, ample turn of stifle, moved well enough. Still needs to drop and fill in front and body up a bit; 3, Titt’s Whitesquall Superiore.

ND (2, 1) 1, Mooring’s Tervanty Imagine Dragons, tall fawn, nice head with dark eye, good depth of brisket and breadth of loin, rather narrow in front as yet, and this showed in his front movement.

GD (9,1) 1, Salkeld & Graham’s Dalerafenn River of Dreams, f/w, masculine type with a good length of neck, good length and depth of body with balanced fallaway, tight feet, pasterns a touch on the soft side. Scored here with movement, clean all round with free daisycutting stride; 2, Earnshaw’s Palmik I Know What I Like at Moonshadow JW, well balanced silver brindle with plenty of scope, liked his head and dark oval eye, clean front with good feet and pasterns, moved soundly; 3, Wood’s Ardencote Keep Dreaming.

PGD (6) 1, Allanson & Macdonald’s Zorarden Simply the Zest of Macalldon JW, red fawn/w, scopy youngster who was clearly the best mover in this class; good length of neck into an excellent front with well laid shoulder and good return, balanced angles behind, very good feet and pasterns, stands over plenty of ground, just out of Junior and more to come from him; 2, Higginbottom’s Ranveli Royal Duke of Dawnsafon JW, very typy fawn, dark eye and fine ear, good overall outline, in fit show condition, strong rear and looked good in profile, a touch loose at elbow; 3, Bunney’s Bunehug Let It Be Me.

MLD (9, 1) 1, Winkley-Balmer & Winkley’s Edenwhip Call Me At Night, fawn with masculine head and strong underjaw, well laid shoulder and plenty of fill and depth, well ribbed up, moving well all round and especially in profile. Would not want any more rear angulation; 2, Grisoli’s Loroli Devil’s Stone JW, striking silver brindle with a lovely outline, dark eye, excellent front, good topline and plenty of scope, thought he would be my winner at first look but lost out to 1 on hind movement; 3, Searle & Rawlinson’s Reffton Tibalt at Whipsearle JW CW25 (Imp esp).

LD (6,1) Two rather different types. 1, Akerboom & Van der Schaaf’s Emandoria Dazzling Diplomat for Creme Anglaise, upstanding red brindle, well up to size but lovely to go over with an excellent front, muscular loin and good depth of brisket, really scored on his lovely free flowing clean movement, handled to get the best out of him; 2, Wilton-Clark’s Shalfleet Chasing the Wind JW, much more compact silver brindle, very typy with super head and front, ample length and depth of ribbing, nice strong rear, moved very well without the freedom and scope of the winner; 3, Poole, Morris & Waddell’s Falconcrag Match Maker at Crosscop.

OD (8) 1, CC, Bridgeman-Lewis & Wilton-Clark’s Shalfleet Making Waves, two years ago this lovely blue brindle had the RCC from me; he has now matured in spectacular fashion into a real eye-filler. Classical head and expression with chiselling and dark eye, good for size, superb front and fill, beautifully balanced and in tip-top condition, everything flows together perfectly and he moved with freedom and drive, lovely to watch. Understand he now has his title via the new RCC route but that this was his third CC, well done; 2, Yacoby-Wright’s Ch Cobyco Catch Your Eye, handsome fawn of high quality, not flashy but correct. Masculine and well balanced, plenty of scope with balanced conformation, no exaggerations and he moves as soundly as his construction would suggest; 3, Dillon & Bailey’s Ch Collooney Eat My Shorts at Runforest JW.

SpVD 7-9 (4,2) 1, BVD, Price’s Ch Wheelspin Silver Shadow among Silkdance JW VW, nearly 8 y/o fawn with a lot to like, balanced outline and stands over plenty of ground, masculine with good structure and matching angles, lovely curvy underline, looking good for his age. Moved very well in profile and in front but untidy going away; 2, Myers & Pilkington’s Supeta’s Show and Tell Astrazone, 7 y/o br/w, typy head and nicely constructed all through, good front and feet, in good fit condition, lots to like but not putting his best foot forward on the move today.

SpVD 10+ (4,1) Lovely to see these older gentlemen back in the ring and enjoying themselves! 1, Bowsher’s Dark Wing, nearly 12 y/o elegant black, with a really nice front and good depth, gently arched topline, all round correct construction, moving very nicely for his age in front and in profile, a little soft behind now but a high class hound in his day; 2, Allanson & Macdonald’s Nattah Echo in the Mist over Macalldon, nearly 11 y/o petite blue fawn, I awarded this fellow a Group many years ago, he has a pleasing typy head, good layback and depth, a little stiff these days but he still moves very nicely for his age, ; 3, Leathart’s Ringmore Dalrymple VW.

Sp Racing/Coursing D (4, 1) 1, Bowsher’s Blues and Tooze, tall blue/w yearling, elegant and scopy, good front and feet, good topline and fallaway, moved soundly out and back without much in the way of reach, quite a lot of scope for maturity and development; 2, Graham’s Ohoka Tip Top, red fawn, again only 17 months and could use a bit more front fill but he is a very nice type with plenty of scope and moved well enough; 3, Yeates, Winter & Morland’s Zorarden Maserati JW

Sp Beginners D (6,1) 1, RCC, Blackburn’s Mazargo Whole Lotta Trouble, what a surprise to find a boy of this quality in Sp Beg. Upstanding 13 month brindle with minimal white; nice masculine but refined head and good in front with plenty of fill for age, good topline and strong well-muscled rear, still only a baby and would expect more to come from him; he really took the eye with his movement, beautiful flowing daisycutting stride and pin sharp in front, all on a loose lead, a most promising youngster; 2, C Tip Top; 3, W Superiore.

Lisa Tyler-Jackson