Result: Lake States Field Trial Club

Location: Meredith, Michigan

Post Date: Jun 22, 2023

Submitted By: Denise Peters

John Hadaway Cover Dog Classic Winners (l-r): Bryan Wood (stakes manager), Kasida with Paul Cook (owner/handler), Eric Naus (judge), Meridith Grade Corky with Tamara Chaffee (handler, Ronnie Eldridge (judge), and E J Jonesy with Scott Chaffee (handler).

On April 25-27, 2023, the Lake States Field Trial Club hosted its spring trial at the Gladwin Field Trial Grounds, with temperatures perfect for the occasion. With temperatures reaching the high 80s weeks before, we enjoyed the coolness of a normal Michigan spring. This spring brought unprecedented entries for our trial this year. We were represented by handlers from our fine state of PURE Michigan, our Upper Peninsula, Ontario, Canada, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and New York. We drew 101 dogs for our three stakes in a three-day exciting event. This trial, as always, was a Purina-sponsored event. Bryan Wood stood again as our stakes manager, with Richard and Jennifer Hollister wrangling their string of sturdy steeds for our judges. Putting on a big trial takes a village; too many folks to name them all. Everyone helped to get the cars moved and helped marshal braces. George and Marilyn Ferguson were there every morning to serve us hot coffee, homemade cookies, and breads. Their continued contributions will always be appreciated. Mike and Deb Singleton were the chief cooks and served tailgate lunches daily. We enjoyed grilled burgers, hotdogs, cheesy potatoes, tacos with all the trimmings, and pizza, serving over 115 folks over three days.

On Tuesday morning, we kicked off the John Hadaway Cover Dog Classic with Eric Naus and Ronnie Eldridge in the saddle to judge the 44 of the 45 dogs drawn, who gave their best efforts in optimum conditions. First place was awarded to Kasida, owned and handled by Paul Cook of Danbury, Wis. Kasida was a flashy and stylish setter with a good forward race and application. She had a woodcock find and a back showing exceptional bird manners throughout. Meridith Grace Corky, owned by Dennis Keysor and handled by Tamara Chaffee, took second place. Corky had a good race with a pair of grouse pointed. Corky stopped two other times in good-looking locations, but no bird was produced. Third place was E J Jonesy, owned by Taylor Kagley and handled by Scott Chaffee. Jonesy was another flashy and stylish setter with a good race and application that produced one woodcock find. Our judges noted that birds were seen on nearly all the courses during this Open Shooting Dog stake.

Wednesday morning, we enjoyed 24 fine-looking puppies on the Puppy course in the Bob Doran Open Puppy Classic, with Chris Wasserman and Rob Ellis sitting in judgment. Our LSFTC President, Mike Brown, acted as stakes manager to get things done with minimal complications and in a timely fashion. First place went to Vitali's Grouse Ringer Brew, owned and handled by Gary Vitali. Brew looked fast on the ground with little handling and stayed forward. He checked in when needed and hit all the objectives for a puppy on this course.
Second place went to My Shady Grove, owned by Thomas Butler and Rachel Van Eyk and handled by Thomas Butler. Judges noted that she was fast and quick-footed. Checking in more often than Brew but went to the covers, hitting puppy objectives purposely with a woodcock encounter at the end.
Baxter's Doc Holiday, owned by Brent and Denise Peters and handled by Brent Peters, took third. Doc ran a good race, fast and pushing independence with conflicts with dogs in the open shooting dog on Course 6 at the same time. He came back in, cast a nice run on the hill, and ended up in front, covering the ground with an unexpected woodcock encounter. Judges reported that with this amount of young pups, it was the most competitive group to judge.

After the conclusion of our Open Shooting Dog stake on Tuesday, we began our Dell Todd Open Derby Classic with an outstanding entry of 32 young dogs. Our judges, Bob Wheelock and Joe Colglazier, had the honor to check out these young hopefuls. Often with bird work hard to capture in a spring trial, all dogs were placed with adequate bird work. First place went to Eldridge's Winning Oscar, owned by Ronnie Eldridge and handled by Scott Chaffee. On Course 9, Oscar was a big dog, looking nice on the ground and handled well. Down along the creek, he stopped solid and, after a flushing attempt, was moved forward. After being tapped on, shortly, he again came to a hard stop, and a grouse blew out, making his bid with a strong forward finish.
Second place went to Meredith Grade Penny, owned by Dennis Keysor and handled by Scott Chaffee. Penny had a nice solid and forward ground race, looking good on a woodcock find to put her in the running.
Mountain Top Nellie, handled by Marc Forman and owned by Jeffrey Keller, took third place. Nellie had a very good ground performance with a nice relocation on a woodcock find to nail her position. Another note by judges is that Brian Ralph's pointer Rip had the best ground race of the stake but didn't have the bird work to nail a position. We concluded our Derby stake on Thursday and, at the conclusion, went to the Alibi for announcements.

A huge thank you to Purina for their dog food contribution and continued sponsorship. Another huge shout out to all the participants who helped marshal, move cars, and make this event a huge success.
Meredith, Mich., April 25
Judges: Ronnie Eldridge and Eric Naus
JOHN HADAWAY COVER DOG CLASSIC - 5 Pointers and 40 Setters
1st--KASIDA, 1682487, setter female, by Erin's Prometheus-War Paint. Paul D. Cook, owner and handler.
2d--MERIDITH GRADE CORKY, 1681353, setter male, by Ponderosa Mac-Call Me Maggie. Dennis Keysor, owner; Tamara Chaffee, handler.
3d--E J JONESY, 1693374, setter female, by Ponderosa Mac-Eldridge's Beauty And Beast. Taylor Kagley, owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.
Judges: Rob Ellis and Chris Wasserman
BOB DORAN OPEN PUPPY CLASSIC - 7 Pointers and 17 Setters
1st--VITALI'S GROUSE RINGER BREW, 1700649, setter male, by Vitali's Grouse Ringer Stogey-Vitali's Grouseringer Razzle. Gary Vitali, owner and handler.
2d--MY SHADY GROVE, 1703364, pointer female, by Crosswind Jim-Loneridge Justify'd Shawnee. Thomas Butler & Rachel Van Eyk, owners; Thomas Butler, handler.
3d--BAXTER'S DOC HOLIDAY, 1701013, setter male, by Thornapple Casey-Baxter's Mary Katherine. Brent & Denise Peters, owners; Brent Peters, handler.

Bob Doran Open Puppy Classic Winners (l-r): Bryan Wood, Mike Brown (stake manager and LSFTC president, Vitali's Grouse Ringer Brew with Gary Vitali (owner/handler), Rachel Van Eyk, My Shady Grove with Tom Butler (owner/handler), Rob Ellis (judge), Baxter's Doc Holiday with Brent Peters (owner/handler), and Denise Peters.

Judges: Joe Colglazier and Bob Wheelock
DELL TODD OPEN DERBY CLASSIC - 9 Pointers and 23 Setters
1st--ELDRIDGE'S WINNING OSCAR, 1701135, setter male, by Ponderosa Mac-Eldridge's Beauty and Beast. Ronnie Eldridge, owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.
2d--MEREDITH GRADE PENNY, 1694628, setter female, by Ponderosa Mac-Eldridge's Beauty and Beast. Dennis Keysor, owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.
3d--MOUNTAIN TOP NELLIE, 1696822, setter female, by Ponderosa Mac-Grouse River Woodcock Annie. Jeffrey Keller, owner; Marc Forman, handler.

Dell Todd Open Derby Classic Winners (l-r): Bryan Wood (stake manager), Eldridge's Winning Oscar with Ronnie Eldridge (owner), Joe Colglazier (judge), Meredith Grade Penny with Scott Chaffee (handler), Bob Wheelock (judge), and Mountain Top Nellie with Marc Forman (handler).