Result: Region 1 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship

Location: East Windsor, Connecticut

Post Date: Dec 5, 2024

Submitted By: John Olfson

Region 1 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship (l-r): Aiden Malone, Dave O'Brien, John Olfson (judge), Chris Catanzarite with CH Back Country Pure Gold, Craig Santos (judge), Tiffany and Alex Smith together with their son and R-U CH Calico's Over The Top, Pam Casale, Amilcar Pereira, Gene Casale, and John Malone and grandson.

The Region 1 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship commenced Saturday, October 12, in East Windsor, Connecticut, at the Dr. John E. Flaherty Field Trial Area with judges John Olfson and Craig Santos mounted and ready for action. We drew an excellent field of 28 dogs.
Under the joint effort of the Dr. John E. Flaherty Field Trial Clubs Association and its devoted President Rich Murphy, as well as the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and Eastern District Wildlife Biologist Ann Kilpatrick, the grounds were in as good of condition as could be expected. We are thankful and appreciate this continued joint effort.

Backcountry Pure Gold was named champion. She ran a huge forward race, taking edges and hunting hard with finds at 9, 49, and 60. She hunted deeper into the course than any other dog. The find at time was particularly impressive; as we road and rounded a bend, we could see her standing perfectly at the far end of Dearborn, several hundred yards in front of us. She is very classy, simply gorgeous on point. She is owned and handled by veteran field trialer Chris Catanzarite.

Calico's Over The Top was named runner-up champion. He was also the runner-up champion of this event in 2022. He laid out a hard-charging, powerful performance; he is a big boy, and this is the way he rolls. He was always forward, running big with finds at 16, 25, and 50. Veteran handler Alex Smith handled him and is a big part of his ownership group, Calico Kennels.
It would be remiss if I did not mention the fine effort by Waybetter Bobby. "Smoke," his callname, was handled by his owner, Bobby Verderosa, to a six-find effort. He is an experienced dog, having been campaigned by Jeanette Tracy to several wins. He sometimes was looking to his handler for some direction, as if he was trying to say, "Aren't you going to blow the whistle, or don't you want me over here?" Still a fine performance.

Many thanks to Brian Sanchez, the winner of last year's event with his fine dog Great River Yellowstone, for hosting Saturday night's dinner. Also, many thanks to Gene Casale and Dave O'Brien for chairing the event together with me.

Special thanks to our Association President and longtime Region 1 Trustee, Eli Richardson, for providing his three fine horses-- Shadow, Smokey, and Mosses--to judge off. We could not have done it without them.

Many thanks to Greg Blair and Purina for their continued support. We are proud to award Pro Plan Sport to the winners. We all appreciate Purina's effort and support of all sporting breeds; they are far and away second to none! In fact, I know of no one in our New England group of field trialers who does not feed Pro Plan.

East Windsor, Conn., October 12 - One Course
Judges: John Olfson and Craig Santos
REGION 1 AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 26 Pointers and 2 Setters
Winner-BACKCOUNTRY PURE GOLD, F1694791, pointer female, by Springflow's Backcountry P-Backcountry Tornado. Chris Catanzarite, owner and handler.
Runner-Up-CALICO'S OVER THE TOP, F1692315, pointer male, by Dominator's Rebel Heir-Calico's Country Strong. Calico Kennels, owner; Alex Smith, handler.