While enjoying another stunning day on Sunday, the Longwood Coursing Club was thrilled to welcome the ‘James Shaw show’ to town.
With one-year-old daughter and ‘lucky charm’ Harriet by his side, everything turned to gold for “Team Shaw” with James’ dogs winning three of the 10 events.
The feature of the day was the heats of the Slips to Boxes, with Shaw winning Event 1 with Nine Nine in a physical final with Paint Peeler (Nicole Lummas).
He also had Crabby Yabby, which won Event 6 from Super Sparkle (Murray Collyer), as well as Master Ogilvie, which had to come from behind to beat Whose Mat (Phil Smith) in Event 9 in what turned out to be a cracking course.
John Carr (left) and James Shaw (right) putting dogs in ‘slips’.
With the Waterloo Cup contenders slowly beginning to emerge, Shaw would be thrilled with Nine Nine and Crabby Yabby which will be targeted at coursing’s ‘Holy Grail’ later in the year.
The other three heats of the Slips to Boxes also showed some serious coursing talent with Call Me Harvey (Sean Lithgow) downing Myola Red Boy (Annette Kampman) in a very tight course in the final of Event 2.
The Event 3 final saw the very impressive Break Ranks (Aaron Debattista) defeat All Inn Ryder (Tony Duncan) in his first go at coursing.
He will certainly be one to watch going forward as will Orson Emmy (Clint Capuano), which won the Event 4 final from All Inn Cash (Tony Duncan).
WATCH: CRABBY YABBY (James Shaw) takes out Event 6 from SUPER SPARKLE (Murray Collyer).
Orson Emmy is a regular on the coursing scene and a perennial contender in all events she contests.
Course of the day was undoubtedly the final of Event 7 in which Sunny Bokai (Jennifer Thorpe) and Envy To Burn (Wayne Gray) had a ding-dong battle after a perfect slip from Paddy.
They were neck-and-neck the whole way with both dogs determined to reach the finishing post first. The crowd couldn’t call it, even our caller Calven didn’t know who won, but thankfully our GRV judge was able to determine a winner with Envy To Burn prevailing from Sunny Bokai by a head.
Congratulations to Apache Shout (Brian Brown) and Oriental Onyx (James Arthur) who broke their maidens. These two may have been the most popular dogs of the day with several owners and supporters showing up to cheer them home.
James Arthur and grandchildren with ORIENTAL ONYX.
The final winner was Mystify Princess (John Carr) over Penny’s Jade (Cole Brett) in Event 10.
She was mighty impressive all day and had a good ‘lung opener’ in readiness for the Sylvester Doyle Puppy Championship which begins on July 24 at Longwood.
The Puppy Championship will be supported by the Ray Boundy Memorial for the best 16 All Aged Dogs and the Strathbogie Cup for 16 Maiden competitors.
We look forward to seeing you all there and remember to watch the Slips to Boxes final at Shepparton on Monday, July 18. It’s going to be a cracking field battling it out for glory!
Compiled by National Coursing Association of Victoria joint secretary – Sean Lithgow.
WATCH: Course of the day was ENVY TO BURN (Wayne Gray) prevailing by a head over SUNNY BOKAI (Jennifer Thorpe).
