Result: Garden State Shooting Dog Championship and Derby Classic

Location: Lacey Township, New Jersey

Post Date: Dec 21, 2023

Submitted By: Lloyd Miller

Harbor City Sure Shot, Winner of the Garden State Open Shooting Dog Championship

The English Setter Club of America Garden State Shooting Dog Championship program started Monday, October 23, 2023, and concluded Wednesday, October 25. The weather was great throughout.

The Club would like to thank SBHA and Eukanuba this year for their support of this event. This year's championship judges were Josh Ruiter of Huntington, Pennsylvania, and Dan Jolly of Chatsworth, New Jersey. Marcus Ramseur judged the Open Derby with Dan Jolly. We thank them for their time in the saddle and attentiveness throughout. Their decisions were well received. The Club also thanks Joe Cincotta (chairman) and Joe Lordi (co-chairman) for the work they did in putting this trial together. It was a monumental effort on their part to pull off the running of this event, which was part of a four one-hour stakes program accomplished over two weeks, all run continuously in a row. These were the Middle Atlantic Open Shooting Dog Championship and Amateur Shooting Dog Classic, the Garden State Open Shooting Dog Championship, and the Elwin G. Smith Amateur Shooting Dog Classic. We thank them very, very much. We also would like to thank all the English Setter Club members who pitched in to do the logistics of putting on a great two-week event, plus the pros who made these events possible. We would also like to thank especially Bob Brooks for doing the dog truck throughout, plus our bird planters, and not least, Dan Jolly, who lives locally and helped with providing water for our horses and dogs, and the Setter Club for providing the water tanks and others who did the water runs. We also had a brand-new tent this year provided by the AFTCNJ, which was a crowning touch.

The Garden State Open Shooting Championship had a great entry of 32 top shooting dogs. The birdwork this year was breathtaking, with enormous covey rises at numerous places on finds throughout the course. Taking the championship this year was Harbor City Sure Shot, a white and liver pointer female owned by Richard Gillis of Minnesota and Karen Lordi of Tabernacle, New Jersey, and ably handled by Matt Basilone. "Sadie," as she is called, scored with six finds with her usual high head-on-point style. Her winning performance came from the 15th brace overall, which ran at 1:40, the first brace on Thursday afternoon. Her race was strong to the front throughout the hour--a very good effort to gain the judges' nod this day.
Taking the runner-up honors was Ravenwood Throwing Smoke, a white and black pointer male owned by Joseph Cincotta of Stockton, New Jersey, and handled by Matt Basilone. Smoke ran Wednesday in the first brace of the day (11th brace overall), carding six nice finds with a strong, consistent forward race.

There were seven other dogs that ran clean and completed their hour heats with some good efforts of their own. We had several worthy performances, and it was a really good competitive championship. Listed in order of running, they are the following dogs.
Starting things off at 1:21 (2nd brace overall Monday afternoon), I'm Spartacus, a pointer male with Doug Ray in the saddle, scored nicely with a good race, a back of bracemate at 1:24, three finds in a row at 1:28, 1:34 and 1:38, and a UP at 1:40. He finished with several more finds to end his hour. Next, off at 2:35 (3rd brace Monday afternoon), was Fort River's Lucky Charm, a setter male handled nicely by Matt Basilone with a 10-find effort and a strong hunting performance on the ground.

Tuesday morning, we had Pine Straw Sweet Tea in the first brace (5th brace overall) with Jeanette Tracy at the helm, who scored on 10 quail stands coupled with a good, stylish hunting effort. Absolute Dominator, a pointer male with Doug Ray, was off at 9:39 a.m. (6th brace overall) and had numerous coveys and a good race in his hour. The 2nd brace after lunch (9th overall) was Riptide, a setter male with Doug Ray. Tide had a very nice performance with some good bird work and race. Steel Valley Raven, a pointer female with Jeanette, followed. Off at 2:56 (10th brace overall), she had a good run with, I think, about seven coveys and a good race on the ground.

Wednesday's morning first brace was the runner-up, as previously described. Braces 12 through 14 were picked up early. The eventual champion in the 15th brace was Steel City Avenger, a pointer male with Jeanette, who had numerous finds at 1:44, 1:46, and 1:50, and a non-productive at 1:56. I believe he had several more finds, which I have not got data on. His race with the many finds early was good, but he was sort of in a catch-up mode at times.

Lacey Township, N. J., October 23 - One Course
Judges: Dan Jolly and Josh Ruiter
GARDEN STATE OPEN SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 26 Pointers and 6 Setters
Winner-HARBOR CITY SURE SHOT, 1668549, pointer female, by R J's Long Shot-Harbor City Sugar. Richard Gillis & Karen Lordi, owners; Matt Basilone, handler.
Runner-Up-RAVENWOOD THROWING SMOKE, 1675094, pointer male, by Erin's Stone Cutter-Erin's Annie. Joe Cincotta, owner; Matt Basilone, handler.

GARDEN STATE OPEN DERBY CLASSIC
The Garden State Open Derby Classic ran Monday morning. Taking the blue ribbon was Newfield Primus, a pointer male owned by George (Bo) Mamounis of Newfield, New Jersey. He scored on five classy quail finds and one UP, coupled with a nice forward-searching race. Second went to Ladywood's None Other, a pointer female owned and handled by Jeanette Tracy of Glenville, Pennsylvania. She had three nice pieces of birdwork and a good effort on the ground. Third was Miller's Upgraded Patent, a pointer female owned by Fran and Jack Miller of Barwick, Georgia, and nicely handled by Doug Ray of Waynesboro, Georgia. She had two very classy finds and an excellent race.

Judges: Dan Jolly and Marcus Ramseur
OPEN DERBY CLASSIC - 6 Pointers and 2 Setters
1st-NEWFIELD PRIMUS, 1704494, pointer male, by Little Wing Inked Up-Prison Break Turk. George Mamounis, owner and handler.
2d-LADYWOOD'S NONE OTHER, 1705033, pointer female, by Waybetter Jay-Clarendon's Black Eyed Sue. Jeanette Tracy, owner and handler.
3d-MILLER'S UPGRADED PATENT, 1704924, pointer female, by Miller's Upgraded Version-Miller's Special Edition. Jack & Fran Miller, owners; Doug Ray, handler.