Select a larger picture (67KB) 2008 Texas Amateur All Age Brittany Championship Winners People from left to right:  David Downing, Jimmie & Gary Smith, Tom Milam, Judge Rex Tackett, John Cross, Claude & Jan Kilpatrick, Judge Will Welch 1st, 2nd and 4th place winning Brittanys from left to right:  1st-FloJo, 2nd-Harley, 4th-Ruby 3rd place winning Brittany "Roc" is not pictured.

The Winners
 
  First Place - Orion's "Flo" Jo, owner handled by Gary Smith set a standard in the 3rd brace that was clearly a winning performance.  Flo ran a strong forward race with good range and was rewarded with a find at 38 and a stop to flush at 49.  Her fast pace was maintained for the entire hour.
 
  Second Place - Megabuck's Hell on Wheels "Harley", handled by owner John Cross ran in the 3rd brace with the winner.  Harley took advantage of the cooler morning temperatures and maintained his good ground speed throughout the hour.  He showed good manners on 2 finds within the first 3 minutes of his brace.  While he lacked the range of the winner, he maintained his pace and forward race to the finish.
 
  Third Place - Count Sirocco "Roc", owner handled by Sue D'Arcy ran in the 5th brace with the temperatures climbing rapidly.  He showed good speed and range early on, but suffered from the rising heat in the later part of his brace; otherwise things could have turned out differently.  Point was called at 41 with Roc standing in a large thicket and all was in order.
 
  Fourth Place - Blueridge's Blazen Gem "Ruby", handled by Claude Kilpatrick ran in the 7th brace and took advantage of the cooler temperature.  While she lacked the range of the other placing dogs, she showed good ground speed and handled kindly as she intelligently navigated the course.  Ruby's bird hunting diligence was rewarded with 3 stylish finds involving multiple birds at 10, 23, and 43.  She continued to run and hunt hard the entire hour.
 
 
The Running
 
  Brace 1:  CHEYENNE WIND DANCER "DAN" (John Cross) and WINTUCK ROCKET'S RED GLARE "ROCKET" (Tom Milam).  Both dogs broke away from camp at good pace.  Rocket was a little farther out when he hit point at 9 minutes in a large thicket.  After 2 relocation attempts, he decided to show Tom where the birds were and was leashed.  After a non productive at 33, Dan continued the hour with a workman like performance but was not rewarded with a find.
 
  Brace 2:  TJ'S PRAIRIE "BLIZZARD" (Jessica Carlson) and TEJAS IRON "MAX" (Mitsue Nakamura).  Both of these handlers chose to leash their dogs early as they seemed to have trouble finding the front.
 
  Brace 3:  MEGABUCK'S HELL ON WHEELS "HARLEY" (John Cross) and ORION'S "FLO"JO (Gary Smith).  Both of these dogs' performances are described above.
 
  Brace 4:  BLUERIDGE "MAJOR" ADVENTURE (Terry Maxwell) and CHIEF'S "GUNNER" (Doug Arnold).  These dogs broke away from camp as the temperatures began to rise.  Both dogs showed good speed and range with Major the further out of the two.  At 17, Gunner had a non productive and was sent on.  At 39 he had a clean find and was looking good.  At 57 he bumped a bird on relocate and was leashed.  Major continued to eat up large sections of ground but was not rewarded with a find.  At 58 he was seen going into the woods, way to the front but was not seen again until 40 minutes into the next brace.
 
  Brace 5:  COUNT SIROCO "ROC" (Sue D'Arcy) and HANGING JAZE HOWLALEWYA AMEN "SLICK" (Tom Milam).  Roc's race is described above.  Slick was a handful to handle for Tom and the Tracker was called for at about 30.
 
  Brace 6:  COUNTESS COGNAC "CC" (Sue D'Arcy) and MO-DAN'S BELIEVER "BUDDY" (John Cross).  CC showed excellent speed early, but suffered from blown pads and shortened up.  She never quit hunting and had finds at 49 and 55.  Buddy seemed to run bigger the longer he was down.  At 45 he got lost going through the woods after Four Corners.
 
  Brace 7:  BLUERIDGE BLAZEN GEM "RUBY" (Claude Kilpatrick) and ALMADEN'S "RIVER" OF SHADOWS (Jessica Carlson).  Ruby's race is described above.  River had trouble getting untracked this day and Jessica chose to pick him up at 22.
 
  Brace 8:  BELLA BEAU "MAX" (Gary Nelson) and TLM COMANCHE "CHIEF" (Tom Milam).  These dogs broke away with Chief making a nice forward cast and Max hunting more lateral.  Gary was working hard to keep Max forward until he finally disappeared for good half way through the brace.  Chief continued making nice forward casts and hunting all the likely spots.  He was found on point at 52, but even after relocating, no birds could be produced.  He finished the hour without bird contact.
 
  Brace 9:  DAKOTA "LUKE" (Dick Mantler) and BRETON'S GOLD RUN RUFFIAN "RUNNER" (Jessica Carlson).  Both dogs broke away with a lot of enthusiasm.  Luke suffered a lapse in manners at 15 and was leashed.  Runner continued on without bird contact for 35 minutes until he disappeared in the woods just past 4 Corners.
 
  Brace 10:  TEQUILA WITH A TWIST "TARYN" (Jessica Carlson) and CHIEF'S NUBBIN'S MY LIL "LADY" (Doug Arnold).  These girls got right down to business at breakaway and at 10 Taryn had a nice find.  Birds were flushed and all was in order.  Shortly after being sent on she disappeared and was not returned to judgment.  Lady continued showing good range and ground speed.  At 23 she had a find with all in order.  She finished the hour running hard but her pattern became erratic, keeping her out of the ribbons.
 

1st		--		"FloJo", Orion's FloJo, owner/handler -- Gary Smith
2nd		--		"Harley", Megabuck's Hell on Wheels, owner/handler -- John Cross
3rd		--		"Roc", Count Sirocco, owner/handler -- Sue D'Arcy
4th		--		"Ruby", BlueRidge Blazen Gem, owners -- Janeen Schneider & Jan Kilpatrick, handler -- Claude Kilpatrick