Copper City Dog Trial—The best ever!
Wednesday September 9, 2009
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Dog handler Lew Noble from Victoria (far right with one of the judges centre rear of photo) with Tungali Rambo competing in the Copper City Sheep Dog Trial KML Open event on Sunday at Ward Oval.
Bruce Bashford, the chief open judge at this year’s Copper City Dog Trial has praised the Cobar event as the “best ever” in his 45 years of involvement of sheep dog trials.
Mr Bashford said the Copper City Dog Trial had not only become the biggest event of its kind in Australia but was also “by far the best in every aspect”.
He praised the event organiser Daniel Stephens and his committee for the preparation work that had gone into the event.
“Once again the Copper City Dog Trial was a huge success but it could not have been possible without Cobar sponsors and all the helpers behind the scenes,” Mr Stephens said.
This year’s event attracted a record number of competitors including National Champion Ross Dodge and Australian Champion Pip Hudson as well as more than 400 dogs competing to find the best dog in Australia.
NSW handlers John Perry and Leigh Foster took out the Landmark Russell State of Origin title from Queenslander Colin Topp who competed in the event with two dogs.
Ross Dodge and Alister Dickson represented Victoria to place third.
Tasmania’s Malcolm Taylor and Geoff Foster finished in fourth place.
The most hotly contested event, the KML Open Trial, was won by NSW’s John Perry and his dog Sommerville Roy.
They finished with 365 points, five points clear of Alister Dickson and Kiwi Prince in second place with 360.
Malcolm Taylor placed third and fourth with his two entries Sommerville Floss (274 points) and Mocara Ed (273 points).
Dickson’s second entry, Lister Mary, finished the competition with 263 points for fifth place.
Lew Noble from Victoria and Tungali Rambo finished with 252 points in sixth place.
In the M&C Parisi Encouragement Class, Claudine Yench of Cobar was first followed by Bev Noble (Queensland) in second and Greg Stanfield (Wanaaring) in third.
Chris Clark (Cobar) and Kel Fitzgerald (Dubbo) were fourth and fifth.
Graeme Henry of Dubbo won the Clark and Son Novice Trial event, ahead of Pip Hudson of Dubbo, and Cobar’s Scott Griffiths.
The Improver Trial, sponsored by Gumnut Gifts, was taken out by Cobar’s Scott Griffiths.
Second was Graeme Henry (Dubbo), followed by Tom O’Neill (Cobar), Laurie Slater (Murrumbateman), Colin Topp (Brisbane) and Dave Armitage (Dubbo).
The team of Phil and Pip Hudson of Dubbo took home the Maisie Hudson Memorial Ambrose Trial title.
Second was Laurie Slater of Murrumbatemen, while third was Peter Oxley of Bathurst and Ray Polack of Dubbo.
Also popular at the Copper City Trials Event was the Dog Auction, conducted by Landmark Russell.
A “good crowd” of bidders turned out, with interest from the local area as well as other states including South Australia and Victoria.
A total of 15 dogs were up for auction, with 13 sold on the day.
The top price paid was $3,100, with the average price for the working dogs $961.
The Tooheys Clash of the Codes novelty event on Friday night at the 2009 Copper City Sheep Dog Trial attracted a big crowd to Ward Oval with many keen to see which local sporting team would be named ‘Top Dogs’.
Copper City Sheep Dog Trial organiser Daniel Stephens said he hoped the novelty event might attract people to go down to watch and then stay on to see the State of Origin dog trial.
“It was very popular and great fun,” he said.
The teams were given an outline of the competition rules which simulated a dog trial and they were required to muster three sheep through a designated course.
One member of the team was to act as the handler and direct the rest of their team over the course.
Contestants were not allowed to pick up or touch the sheep with their hands however they were allowed to nip at the sheep’s heels if they wanted to.
The Cobar Rugby men’s side were the only team to complete the course and so were declared the winners of the prize of a keg.
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