otomac Jipsy ’01 dazzled even huntsman Larry Pitts as the American hound sped around the grand championship ring at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show in Malvern, Pa.

Focusing only on Pitts’ biscuits and direction, the bitch solidly outperformed the other contenders with her “look-at-me” attitude that nailed the top title for her on June 3.

“She chased my biscuits and came back and stood like a dressage horse. All the hounds had quality, but she just whizzed around like she had wings. She could not have done better,” Pitts said.

Potomac Hunt (Md.) ruled the American ring, winning 11 of 14 classes and 21 prizes, including the pack class and high-point huntsman. Jipsy is the daughter of past champion Potomac Warcloud ’96, who won best stallion and best stallion with get in 2001 and ’03 at Bryn Mawr and champion dog in the same two seasons.

She’s out of Jodi ’97, an influential brood bitch who whelped Jezebel ’00, the dam of 2006 Virginia Foxhound Show reserve champion Jefferson ’05 and Joseph ’02, who was champion American hound in Virginia in 2005 and won as best stallion at Bryn Mawr last year.

“Jodi is by Potomac Brampton ’94 out of Breezy, who was a gift from Melvin Poe. Breezy was champion bitch at Bryn Mawr about 14 years ago,” Pitts said. “The Brampton cross has that light, breezy look.

“I think that after many years–and it takes many years unless you’re lucky–you know who the hounds are and that makes it easier to breed. I give hounds away to credible people so they will breed to good hounds. Then I can go back to them and avoid inbreeding. It keeps the lines open, you’re linebreeding, but not too close,” Pitts explained.

Fourteen other winning hounds in the Potomac kennel were sired by the influential stallion and solid black type winner Potomac Rapidan ’99, by Rombout Ranger ’94. “Rapidan has always been one of my favorites–he still goes out and hunts,” Potomac Jt.-MFH Vicki Crawford said.

“The pack hunts like they show. They are racy and hunt just the way you’d want them to hunt. We don’t do anything special. We hate ugly hounds–they last so much longer if they’re built nice,” Pitts said.

Not to be overshadowed by the Potomac hounds, Essex Chadwell ’03 (Essex Winslow ’98–their Betsey ’98), last year’s champion American hound, edged Potomac Jefferson ’05 to capture the American dog championship.

“He’s from a very large family, and he’s the best,” huntsman John Gilbert said. “He’s very handsome, a nice mover and deer-proof–a real nice hound.”

Essex also swept the ribbons in single bitch, unentered class with Bantam, Joyful and Buoy. Essex also took the couple of unentered bitches with Joyful and Bantam, whose sires are half-brothers.

“This year we ended up with the most even litters of unentered hounds. We are very pleased,” Essex Jt.-MFH Alexandra Allen said.

Gilbert was somewhat humored by the pack class, where Essex placed second behind Potomac. He explained that the judges gave specific instructions that included going through a gate and hounds holding up with a whip until the huntsman advanced away and then they were to rejoin him.

“Our hounds knew they shouldn’t go past the whip, so they took a different approach,” Gilbert said. “Somehow, they all made up their minds together. They thought for a second and then ran around and retraced their steps [rejoining the huntsman without passing the whip].”

It cost the class but was an interesting solution taken by the puzzled hounds.


Piecrust Rolls Out The English Win
Molly Sorge
There was no mistaking Blue Ridge Hunt’s (Va.) domination in the English ring, where their hounds won 11 of 15 classes. Their day finished with Blue Ridge Piecrust ’05 (Mid-Devon Grocer ’00–Blue Ridge Pickle ’99) claiming the English foxhound grand cham-pionship, with littermate Blue Ridge Piebald ’05 as reserve. The two hounds had taken the English bitch and dog hound championships, respectively, earlier in the day.

The results speak to the influence that the stallion hound Mid-Devon Grocer ’00 (Heythrop Busby ’96–N. Cotswold Grapefruit ’96) has had on Blue Ridge’s breeding program. Every winning Blue Ridge hound at Bryn Mawr this year was by Grocer, except in the stallion with get class, which Grocer won himself.

“He has really stamped his get–he’s been a real asset to our program. And they all hunt well and are very biddable,” said Blue Ridge Jt.-MFH Linda Jenkins-Armbrust.

“He’s a very nice modern English hound. He’s quite a good hunting hound himself–he’s quick to find a fox,” Blue Ridge Huntsman Dennis Downing said.

Blue Ridge imported Grocer from England in 2004, and he promptly won the grand championship for them at the 2004 Bryn Mawr. It was the first time Blue Ridge hounds had ventured into the Bryn Mawr ring in more than 30 years.

“He’s got some very outstanding, good-looking hounds,” said Jenkins-Armbrust. “Piecrust and that whole litter were very good. Then, he’s the sire of Gravity, the bitch champion at Virginia this year. And Grizzle [who was the English champion at Virginia this year] is a beautiful dog.”

Jenkins-Armbrust chose Grocer because “he had the bloodlines that I wanted,” she said. “We do line breeding, and so you have to have things that nick in with the bitches that you want to breed. It’s no good saying, ‘Here’s a pretty hound and here’s a pretty bitch, let’s breed them.’ Sometimes it works, but to have them consistent, you need to be line breeding.”

Downing himself has contributed to the Blue Ridge winners, particularly Blue Ridge’s Grizzle (Mid-Devon Grocer ’00–Blue Ridge Lavender ’02), who won the single dog, unentered class and was the English champion at Virginia.

“I’m very pleased with Lavender’s offspring because that’s a line I brought to America when I first came over [in 1998]. I brought her mother over, and this is the fourth kennel I’ve had that line in, so it’s quite pleasing, really.”

Grizzle’s littermate, Blue Ridge’s Gravity, also won the single bitch, unentered class.

Blue Ridge’s wins didn’t end there–they also took the single dog, unentered and couple of dogs, unentered, classes in the Crossbred ring with Blue Ridge’s Cruiser and Crocket (Blue Ridge Lapworth ’03–their Crumpet ’04).

Interestingly, Crumpet is the daughter of Blue Ridge Pickle ’99, who was the dam of Piecrust and Piebald. “She’s near retired now. She’s had two litters, and she’s been a good mother and a good bitch in her work,” Downing said of Pickle.

Truly Inherits The Crossbred Championship
Molly Sorge
Elkridge-Harford Truly ’03 (Elkridge-Harford Fisher–their Talent ’99), last year’s Bryn Mawr reserve champion Crossbred foxhound, returned this year to claim the championship as her own.

The striking bitch didn’t show in any classes, but she returned for the championship judging by virtue of her bitch championship last year.

“She’s a great hunter and a beautiful hound–she’s just put together really nicely,” said Elkridge-Harford (Md.) Jt.-MFH Liz McKnight. “Conformation-wise, she’s a very elegant hound. Last year the only hound that beat her was our Fairfax. She went in for the grand championship class again this year, and she’s a little on the small side, so she didn’t really stand out next to all the dog hounds.”

Tragically, Elkridge-Harford Fairfax ’03, the Bryn Mawr grand champion in 2003 and ’05, was lost in a kennel fight.

Truly’s sire, Elkridge-Harford Fisher ’95, was a favorite of hunt member Kerri Smyth, who helped show hounds at Bryn Mawr.

“Fisher had the most incredible voice. He was the first hound whose name I learned, because he stood out in the pack and had this great, tenacious personality. We were lucky enough to have him come live with us when he got a little bit too creaky to go on hunting,” she said.

“He passed on his heart and voice. He has that great Virginia American voice. He’s from a Piedmont line,” she continued. “Fisher probably wasn’t the prettiest hound there was–his conformation wasn’t the best. But Truly has his heart all the way. When I was looking at the pictures of her, her eye and that keen look looked just like Fisher.”

Elkridge-Harford Tapestry ’02, who took the brood bitch class and the bitch reserve title behind Truly, may not be by Fisher, but she’s related. Her mother, Toffee, was a littermate to Fisher’s mother, Talent.

Elkridge-Harford’s wins continued in the stallion hound class, where Fairfax’s littermate Fargo ’03 (Elkridge-Harford Thomas–their Fabulous ’00) won. “He’s pretty young, but he’s a nice all-around hound,” said McKnight.

Fargo lost in the Crossbred dog hound championship, however, to Old Chatham Eager ’03 (Old Chatham Navajo ’97–their Eliza ’97), who won the single dog, entered class. “He’s just very correct. He has a high sternum, and he’s quite straight in front,” said Old Chatham (N.Y.) Huntsman Patty Salerno Hopkins.

“I think he didn’t get the championship because he ran out of steam at the end of the day. He just lost his bounce–I threw the cookies, and he just ‘trit-trotted’ across the boards.”

Eager was one of a litter of 12, and Hopkins lost his dam, Eliza, in the whelping. She gave puppies from the litter to different hunts. “They were all bottle-fed, and now they’re here, there and everywhere–North Country [Vt.], Genesee Valley [N.Y.], Green Mountain [Vt.].”

Eliza was a special hound for Hopkins, since she represented a new direction of breeding. “She was a product of Sally, who was a true American hound of ours, and Mrs. Hannum’s Parson, who was English. It was a scary jump for us, because we’ve been mostly Midland (Ga.) and Millbrook (N.Y.) lines, but they just nicked,” she said.

Penn-Marydel Winner A First For Marlborough
Donna Ross
Being named champion Penn-Marydel was sweet revenge for the handsome stallion hound Jockey ’03 (Golden’s Bridge Keeper ’00–Marlborough Effie ’97), who captured the 2005 Penn-Marydel championship at Virginia but was edged out and named reserve there this year.

“We feel fantastic,” Marlborough Hunt (Md.) Jt.-MFH Katherine Cawood said. “He showed beautifully. [During the grand champion judging], they show off lead, and Jockey shows best off lead.

“We have lots of little Jockeys, and that’s pleasing too,” she said referring to hounds such as unentered Muldour, Mark, Maryland and Moneek, the dogs and bitches that won in the listed classes.

“Jockey’s sire [Golden’s Bridge Keeper ’00] won the stallion class at Bryn Mawr and best of opposite sex in 2003. We sent the bitch [Marlborough Effie ’97] to Keeper, and we have four from the litter and Jockey is one of them. Class does tell,” Cawood said.

“Donald Philhower [the professional huntsman who formerly was with Goldens Bridge Hounds (N.Y.), a Penn Marydel pack] was very good to us,” said Cawood. “We needed older, steady hounds then. Lots of clubs had bred to Marlborough Uncle Tom ’87, [and] we wanted to keep the line. We had seen [Tom’s son] Keeper at a seminar–he’s a large tri-color and his black is black. Donald had the hound and invited us to some of the Uncle Tom blood.”

Reedy Creek Hounds (Va.) took both champion listed Penn-Marydel and best of opposite sex titles with Falcon ’04 (Reedy Creek Biddle ’01–Andrews Bridge Venus ’98) and littermate Fame ’04, respectively. Their littermates Franklin and Fortune helped win the listed couples classes as well. (The difference between a registered and listed Penn Marydel foxhound is that the former is pure PMD and the latter is an outcross).

“It was an absolutely fabulous litter, both in the hunting field and in the show ring,” Reedy Creek huntsman Tom McElduff said. “The combination of Venus and Biddle truly produced good hunting hounds with excellent feet and a very correct build. Both sire and dam have done well in shows but never to the extent of their get. Both sire and dam are alive, residing at Reedy Creek kennels looking forward to hunting this fall.”

Andrews Bridge Foxhounds (Pa.)–a longstanding participant at Bryn Mawr–did well in the registered classes, winning nine blues and nine other ribbons, including best of opposite sex with Bonnet ’01 (Andrews Bridge Slingshot ’95–their Wooly ’98) and best unentered Penn-Marydel Foxhound with Guardian (Andrews Bridge Byron ’01–their Woven ’99).

“Bonnet is our best hunting bitch. She finds a lot of our foxes and is always right there,” Andrews Bridge Jt.-MFH and huntsman Robert Crompton said. “We plan to breed her and are breeding her sister right now.”

Bonnet’s sire, Slingshot, was named best stallion at Bryn Mawr in 2001 and ’02 and breed champion in ’01, while her dam, Wooly, captured the best brood bitch and best of opposite sex titles the same years.

“Guardian is out of a super litter. Woven ’99 is a great hunter and a sister of Wooly ’98. His sire, Byron, was champion puppy in his year too. He’s a nice dog and hunts like a demon,” Crompton said. “I’m thrilled by this win. I always feel that the most important thing to me is to be puppy champion because that’s the future.”


Farmington Skylark Is Top Mark In Beagles
Molly Sorge
The Farmington Beagles (Va.) had a phenomenal Bryn Mawr, as their Farmington Skylark ’04 claimed the grand championship and the best 13-inch Beagle title after winning the single dog, 13-inch, entered, class. Farmington Iceberg ’04 also claimed the 15-inch Beagle dog championship, and Farmington Vixen ’05 was the 15-inch Beagle champion.

Of Skylark ’04 (Farmington Ivanhoe ’01–their Sable ’96), Farmington Jt.-MB Forbes Reback said, “He’s a very nice hound. He’s well-balanced and square and very correct.

“I personally like Iceberg,” Reback con-tinued. “He’s a nice, big, 15-inch hound. He’s extremely good-looking, but he’s not quite as straight in front as Skylark.”

Iceberg also won Bryn Mawr’s working dog class. “Iceberg stands out in the field–he runs up front,” Reback said.

Iceberg (Farmington Gardner ’01–their Iris ’95) is a product of one of Farmington’s best bitches, Iris.

“She herself is a 13-inch bitch and a wonderful hound. She’s a very nice hound in the field. She’s extremely biddable and always there at a check. She’s had five litters–her blood runs in a lot of packs. She’s certainly earned her keep. She’s retired from hunting and showing, but she still lives with the pack,” said Reback.

Another of Iris’ offspring, Farmington Ikey ’99 (Farmington Pepper ’94–their Iris ’95) claimed the veteran hound class. And Iris was the dam of grand champion Skylark’s sire, Farmington Ivanhoe.

But for their winning 15-inch bitch champion, Reback and his wife and Jt.-MB Sherry Buttrick, imported a hound, Dummer Vacant ’97, from England. They bred her to Farmington Drummond ’00, and the 15-inch bitch champion Farmington Vixen ’05 was the result. “She’s very much the Dummer type, with an extremely tight coat, well-muscled and very athletic,” Reback said.

Steelhead Swims To The Top Of The Bassets
Molly Sorge
Calf Pasture’s Steelhead’s grand Basset hound championship as an unentered hound was a little bit of a surprise for MBH Mrs. Peyton S. “Jeep” Cochran of Maryland.

“He hasn’t hunted yet, but he’s a very correct hound. I think he’s a little immature, but he showed himself very well. He walked into the ring and said, ‘Ah ha, here I am,’ which the unentered ones don’t usually do,” she said.

Steelhead is by Cochran’s Calf Pasture Otter ’00, but out of Betsy Park’s Sandanona Atom ’99, and was bred by Park.

“Otter has the most beautiful voice you’ll ever hear. He’s a very good hound. And Betsy’s bitch is a very nice-looking bitch, with a very good shoulder. I think the bitch imparted the good shoulder to Steelhead,” Cochran said.

Park gave Cochran two puppies out of the litter–Steelhead and his sister, Sturgeon. The names reflect Cochran’s favorite hobby.

“I love to fish, and I had one litter that I named Salmon, Shad and Sea Trout,” she said. “Betsy thought I was absolutely nuts, but then she sent me these two puppies. So, she named the one Steelhead. He’s one-quarter Bleu de Gascoigne, so he’s that wonderful color.”

Ripshin Blue ’02 might have a more traditional name, but she’s just as good-looking and took the Basset hound reserve grand championship behind Steelhead.

“I think she’s a gorgeous hound, but she looks more like a harrier. She’s very tall. We’ve always liked her, and the foxhound people who look at our hounds have always liked her–she’s always been Ben Hardaway’s favorite hound in our kennels. But she’s never done very well at the shows because she’s so different,” said Ann Hughston, Ripshin (Ga.) jt.-MBH.

Blue (Ripshin Dutch ’00–their Bracken ’98) won the brood bitch class before claiming the Basset bitch championship.

“We’ve only bred her once, and we bred her to a dog Mr. Hardaway brought over from Germany that’s a long-haired Dachshund cross. She’s the bitch he chose to breed to out of our kennel. I don’t have any of her get, but we will breed her this fall to a pure Basset.”

Blue is a full sister to Ripshin Banker ’02, who was Bryn Mawr’s champion Basset in 2003 and ’04. “She’s a wonderful dog out hunting–she’s one of my favorite bitches,” Hughston said. “She’s one of those hounds who just never does anything wrong. She will never run a deer, and if somebody does start doing something wrong, she comes straight back to you. She’s incredible at running the line–she’s just a marvelous hound.”

For Hughston, Bryn Mawr wasn’t just fun because of the winning. “Bryn Mawr is really the only Basset show we have to go to, so it’s nice to do well there,” she said. “It’s fun to see everyone else’s hounds–see what they’re breeding and the quality of Bassets. I thought the quality this year was much better than it’s been in the past.”