Yep if it’s Sunday, it MUST be Beagle Racing.

Today races were all for points, and as before, a handicap system was in effect. This forces the dogs who’ve won previous points races to start some distance behind their less successful peers. As it turns out, a handicap isn’t just applied to a winning dog’s next race and then forgotten – it sticks, but is reduced by one yard each week until the dog is starting level again. I think that’s actually quite a nice system – as the season progresses it gives the slower dogs an increasing chance to win. However, today’s races were also subject to weight handicapping, which favors lighter dogs, and forces heavier dogs to the back. What’s more, the handicapping was capped, ie. there was a limit on just how far back a heavy, fast dog would have to start. It was all very complicated, but somehow Carolyne (Murphy’s mum) worked it out and the racing got under way.

Thanks to all the handicaps, Beanie was pretty much starting at the front in her races, so it wasn’t any great surprise when she won her first heat convincingly:

As you can see, I finally managed to capture Beanie doing her Superman impersonation. I’ve caught most of the other Beagles at full stretch before, but not Beanie. Unfortunately low light made the pic a bit grainy, but still, I’m chuffed!

Her second race was much harder, as Derby winner Murphy rocketed through the field to win, but Beanie got second place and so was through to the final:

This time Beanie held on to her lead and won, with Murphy in second and Sam in third. Fantastic! However having won, Beanie will be starting at the very back in her next points race. That’s why it’s often better to finish second consistently if you’re after the end of season points prize.

Beanie doesn’t care about racing tactics though. For her, it’s all about the thrill of the chase.. and of course the chicken – or in this case the WainWrights dried liver cubes -waiting for her at the finish line.

Yesterday was the Beagle Dog Trophy Race. There were four contenders :

– Murphy (Recent Derby Winner)
– Milo (Last Year’s Trophy Winner & 2nd in Recent Derby)
– Bailey (Only 2nd visit to the racing)
– Benny (First time at the racing this year)

When Milo arrived he didn’t know it was an important race for him today. He had won the trophy last year and was supposed to bring it back so that it could be presented to this year’s winner. Poor Milo – his mum & dad hadn’t even got his name engraved on it yet!!! His mum was sent home to fetch the trophy and a little bird tells us that she was frantically polishing the dust off with her jumper en-route back to the track!

Based upon past performances I think we all knew it was between Murphy and Milo, but they are so close in ability that it was anyone’s guess who the winner would be. It was a close race but Milo won, keeping the trophy for a second year. Murphy was a close second followed by Bailey then Benny.

Milo, Murphy and Bailey

After the important race of the day was over we just had a series of fun runs. First Beanie had a race against three bitches and won by several yards. So a promising start.

Milo’s little sister Jess was a bit naughty in her first race and started playfully jostling race favorite Inca half way down the track. Of course, Inca was only too happy to abandon the race for a bit of mischief. When it was time for Jess’s next race her mum held her back for a few seconds so that Jess was out of harms way and couldn’t scupper the other dog’s chances. Well, that was the plan, but in actual fact Jess rose to the challenge and came VERY close to winning. She finished in second place despite starting several yards behind the pack!

Next Beanie was up against Milo and Murphy and got well and truly trounced by them. In recent weeks she’s been keeping very close to them and loosing by less than a dog’s length. But today she was probably several yards behind them. She won her next race, but she was quite sluggish. She made up speed later in the races, but she started slower than normal every time. It could be because she was pooped after Saturday’s mega run in the park. But we are keeping a close eye just in case her recent change to a raw diet isn’t suiting her as well as we thought!

We finished up with a fun run with all the dogs racing together. Murphy was first, followed by Beanie. Although to be fair Milo never does well in the fun runs as he always seems to be more interested in naughtiness and nonsense on his way down the track!.