Event: Garden State Amateur and Open Shooting Dog Classics
Result: English Setter Club of America

Location: Lacey Township, New Jersey

Post Date: May 28, 2024

Submitted By: Lloyd Miller

Garden State Amateur Shooting Dog Classic (front, l-r): Alex Smith with Calico's Over The Top, Tiffany Smith and son with Calico's Country Strong, and Joe Lordi with Cheyenne Jack. (Second row): Joe Cincotta (judge) and John Frank (judge).

The English Setter Club of America Garden State Shooting Dog Classic program started Friday, March 29, and concluded Friday, April 5. The weather was great throughout the Amateur Classic, which concluded Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a planned day off due to the Easter holiday. Monday was fine for the three Garden State companion stakes. The weather for the rest of the week looked not so good with rain every day, some very heavy, so we did some workarounds for the heavy stuff to get the Open Classic in with minimal impact to all (running only two braces on Tuesday, stopping the running on Wednesday during the real heavy rain and finished running during light rain on Thursday and Friday. It was a good compromise for all.)

The Club would like to thank SBHA again this year for supporting this event. It was most appreciated. Next, I would like to thank Joseph Cincotta, our trial chairman, and Joe Lordi, the trial co-chair and secretary, who did most of the work in putting this event together. Others who did a lot of work during the event were Bob Brooks, Matt and Norman Basilone, and your scribe with the bird planting. A trial is not a success without these very vital tasks. We would also thank those who made the runs to get lunches for the judges daily and others.

Our judges this year were James Thomas, Barneveld, New York; Kevin Stuart, Schenectady, New York; Dan Jolly, Chatsworth, New Jersey; Mark Janiec, Cranbury, New Jersey; John Frank, Medford, New Jersey; Joe Lordi, Atco, New Jersey; and Joseph Cincotta, Stockton, New Jersey. We thank them all for their time in the saddle and attentiveness throughout. Their decisions were well received.

This year, we utilized a revised layout for these grounds due to the State having burned hard on the south side of the cable road, leaving it not a desirable option for bird planting. We started with a clockwise course for the hour stake, taking in the extreme northern limits of the grounds, switching to the inner south loop, and then finishing on the inner north loop. It provided a nice flow for dogs and handlers and plenty of birdwork. We did not utilize a dog truck this year and started at the normal breakaway for every brace. There was not too much dead time since most braces finished at the sand road, just a short ride back to the breakaway, for the half-hour stakes with just used the outer north course.

In the Amateur Shooting Dog Classic, with a nice field of 19, taking the top spot with an excellent performance this week was Calico's Over the Top, a pointer male owned by Calico Kennels and Alex and Tiffany Smith. Top had multiple standout finds with a big forward-searching race--a great job by the handler showing off a strong running and fast dog. Second place went to Calico's Country Strong, a white and black pointer female, also owned by Calico Kennels. Strong scored on numerous stylish stands with an equally great forward race. Alex Smith of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, handled the top two dogs. Third place was Cheyenne Jack, a white and orange pointer male, owned by Sal Morelli, Muriel, and Bill Primm and handled by Joe Lordi. Jack ran in the sixth brace and scored many times, with great style and class, to get the final spot.

Close to the winners was Red Alert Lane, a Pointer male owned by Ed and Megan McKay and handled by first-time handler Ed McKay. Ed did a great job showing his dog with four nice finds and a back. Bo Mamounis finished all three of his dogs with nice efforts. Little Wing All Inked Up had two stylish stands and a back in the second brace Friday. American Honky Tonk, a setter male, had five nice stylish quail finds and a good searching forward race in the fourth brace Friday. Finally, Newfield Primus, a pointer male, had a great race with multiple quail stands in the ninth overall brace that ran Saturday morning. Finally, with Bob Verderosa handling, Waybetter Bobby, a pointer male, scored numerous times throughout his hour with a nice searching hunting effort.

The Open Derby ran Monday morning. Taking the first-place spot was Erin's Bad Company, a white and orange pointer male owned by Kevin Stuart. Bad had some standout quail finds and a big, forward, classy race. Second went to Mohawk Mill Finale, a pointer female handled by Matt Basilone. Finale also had some nice birdwork pieces and a strong searching race. No third place was named.

The Open All-Age also ran Monday morning. Taking the first-place spot was Fluid Drive, a white and orange pointer male owned by Sal Morelli of White Plains, New York, and handled by Joe Lordi. Drive ran a good forward race coupled with some nice stands on quail. Second went to Double A's Axel Rhoads, a German Shorthair male, handled by John Frank. Axel also had some nice pieces of birdwork and a strong searching race. There was also no third place named.

The half-hour Open Shooting Dog ran Monday afternoon. Taking the blue ribbon was Mohawk Mill Jacked Up, a white and liver pointer male. "Jack" had six standout quail finds on the outer north course and a fast-forward classy race. Seeing him for the first time, he impressed with his speed and swinging side-to-side search of the grounds. Second went to The Gray Ghost, a setter female owned by W. Smoot Carter of Winchester, Virginia. "Leo" had three nice finds and a good, classy forward race. Third went to Mohawk Mill Gangster, a white and liver pointer male. "Spike" had five very good high head on point finds and a good searching race." All three winners were capably handled by Matt Basilone.

The Garden State Open Shooting Classic had a good entry of 29 top shooting dogs. Emerging as the winner was Miller's Heat Seeker, a white and orange pointer male owned by Muriel and Bill Primm of Crean Ridge, New Jersey, Dennis Hood, and Jack and Fran Miller. He ran in the seventh brace overall (the first brace after lunch on Thursday afternoon) and scored on 10 perfectly mannered and stylish quail finds. His race was always forward with good range to best the field this day. Taking the second spot was Miller's War Bonnet, a 7-year-old pointer male owned by Joe McHugh of Boston, Georgia. He also did a great job. He had five really good stands in his hour. He ran a good forward-searching race. Third place went to Bittersweet War Cry, a white and black pointer male owned by Joe Lordi and Ralph Gillota. War Cry ran in the first brace Friday and had seven nice and stylish quail finds coupled with a big searching race. All three winners were ably handled by Mike Tracy of Glenville, Pennsylvania.

Others that finished in order of running were Red Alert Lane for Matt Basilone and Miller's Lock and Loaded for Mike Tracy, dueling it out Tuesday morning in the second brace. Alert had seven nice finds and a back, while Loaded scored four times coupled with two backs of bracemate. In the fifth brace that ran Thursday morning, Harbor City Sure Shot with Matt had a nice run with five stylish finds and one unproductive. Cheyenne Jack, with Joe Lordi at the helm, ran in the eighth brace on Thursday afternoon. He did a nice job of hunting with nine finds. The Gray Ghost, a setter male with Matt, ran in the 12th brace Friday and had a nice run with six finds and a back.

Lacey Twp, N. J., March 29 - One Course
Judges: Joe Cincotta and John Frank
GARDEN STATE AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG CLASSIC [One-Hour Heats] - 14 Pointers, 3 Setters, 1 Brittany, and 1 German Shorthair
1st-CALICO'S OVER THE TOP, 1692315, pointer male, by Dominator's Rebel Heir-Calico's Country Strong. Calico Kennels, Alex & Tiffani Smith, owners; Alex Smith, handler.
2d-CALICO'S COUNTRY STRONG, 1679850, pointer female, by Waybetter Rocky-Calico's Touch of Class. Calico Kennels, owner; Alex Smith, handler.
3d-CHEYENNE JACK, 1668503, pointer female, by Great River Ice-Blaze's Isis. Sal Morelli & Muriel & Bill Primm, owners; Joe Lordi, handler.

Judges: John Frank and Joe Lordi
OPEN DERBY - 6 Pointers
1st-ERIN'S BAD COMPANY, 1703998, male, by Erin's Redrum-Erin's Bella Braveheart. Kevin Stuart, owner and handler.
2d-MOHAWK MILL FINALE, 1703200, female, by Mohawk Mill Big Stuff-Mohawk Mill Dolly. Gary Winall, owner; Matt Basilone, handler.

Judges: Mark Janiec and Kevin Stuart
OPEN ALL-AGE - 3 Pointers, 2 Setters, and 1 German Shorthair
1st-FLUID DRIVE, 1659984, pointer male, by Great River Ice-Blaze's Isis. Sal Morelli, owner; Joe Lordi, handler.
2d-DOUBLE A'S AXEL RHOADS, R328-088, German Shorthair male, by Keg Creek Mc's Big Lick-Monica's Quail Point Black River. Alexandra Frank & Alex Rhoads, owners; John Frank, handler.

Mohawk Mill Jacked Up, First in the Open Shooting Dog Stake.

Judges: Mark Janiec and Dan Jolly
OPEN SHOOTING DOG - 6 Pointers, 3 Setters, and 1 Brittany
1st-MOHAWK MILL JACKED UP, 1689941, pointer male, by Stoney Run's Buddy-Hirollins Fancy Lady. Ed Megan owners; Matt Basilone, handler.
2d-THE GRAY GHOST, 1696927, setter male, by Caladen's Davinci-Woodmont Virginia Shelby. W. Smoot Carter, owner; Matt Basilone, handler.
3d-MOHAWK MILL GANGSTER, 1685479, pointer male, by Mohawk Mill Pirate's Legacy-Katie Lee's Wild Side. Ed & Megan McCay, owners; Matt Basilone, handler.

Judges: Kevin Stuart and James Thomas
GARDEN STATE OPEN SOOTING DOG CLASSIC [One-Hour Heats] - 26 Pointers and 3 Setters
1st-MILLER'S HEAT SEEKER, 1674886, pointer male, by Just Irresistible-Miller's Bring The Heat. Muriel & William Primm, Dennis Hood & Jack & Fran Miller, owners; Mike Tracy, handler.
2d-MILLER'S WAR BONNET, 1681100, pointer male, by Sugarknoll War Paint-Nehawka Amazin Sue. Joe McHugh, owner; Mike Tracy, handler.
3d-BITTERSWEET WAR CRY, 1674743, pointer male, by Sugarknoll War Paint-Mohawk. Joe Lordi & Ralph Gillota, owners; Mike Tracy, handler.

Garden State Open Shooting Dog Classic (front, l-r): Casey Tracy with Miller's Heat Seeker, Mike Tracy with Miller's War Bonnet, and Joe Lordi with Bittersweet War Cry. (Second row): Kevin Stuart (judge) and Jim Thomas (judge).