The Running of the Open Championship:

Wednesday morning at 8:00 A.M. Sports Machine, Pointer Male owned and handled by Ron Young broke away with Biggs Special Chips, Pointer Male owned and handled by Torben Hansen. Weather was in the 40's with partly cloudy skies. Jessie laid down a medium forward shooting dog race and had a shared nonproductive at 15 minutes. Chip had a classy find at 45, looked stylish when out front but demonstrated a bit much comeback during the course of the brace.

Jasper Ridge Bullett, Pointer Male, handled by Sheldon Twer, owned by Jan and Kent Greenough went off against Promise Land, Pointer Male, owned and handled by Ron Young. Jasper demonstrated his immaturity early on but the longer he was down the better he looked. Handler elected to pick up at 35 minutes. Luke was picked up by Ron at 8 after releasing himself during a flushing attempt.

White Hawk, Pointer Male owned and handled by Torben Hansen was pitted against Prime View, Setter Female, owned and handled by Terry Erickson in the third brace of the morning. Whitey was promptly lost at 6, Torben pulled the tracker out at 18. Babe went on point at 6 but handler was unable to produce a bird. At 13 she was again found on point with like results and Terry decided to pick up.

Sierra View's Molly, Pointer Female, handled by Sheldon Twer, owned by Kim Hansen went off against Lt. Dan, Setter Male, owned and handled by Dr. W. Hal Meyer. Molly had finds at 10 & 16 and worked two nonproductives, relocating herself on one. Dan was found on point at 25, but handler elected to pick up at this point with less than Championship level style.

Silverado Pete, Pointer Male, owned and handled by Glenn Johnson broke away and decided to find and run his own course, never to be handled again or viewed by the judges. Bullet's Ricochet, Pointer Male, owned and handled by Torben Hansen, faired little better but did put together three finds at 8, 10 and 15 before being timed out.

The sixth brace was awaited by all with anticipation as both dogs have previously been declared champion on a number of occasions. Deception's Bullet, Pointer Male, owned by Jeff Gilbertson/Steve Taylor, handled by Sheldon Twer was put down against Sierra Gold, owned and handled by Ron Young. The first half was a bit of a disappointment to all as neither race was indicative of the expectations. Bullett went on to have 2 nonproductives and one find, after a short, lateral first half opening up with an acceptable finish. Sierra Gold (Ben) garnered the R/U Championship with his two nice finds and a strong finish as reported in the forward of this report.

Thursday morning found warmth emanating from the bright sun bringing temperatures up to the 50's. Bold as Brass, Pointer Female owned and handled by Bruce Hale laid down the race of the stake as viewed by the judging duo and was declared Champion as reported in the forward. Kady Pilgrimaire Briar, Pointer Male, handled by Torben Hansen, owned by Kerstan & Ray Blades ran a strong but at times erratic race with 3 finds, a back at 22 and one nonproductive.

Orange Crush, Pointer Female, owned and handled by Ron Young broke away in the next brace against Proofs Secret Service, English Pointer Male, handled by Sheldon Twer, owned by Gary Landrum. Holly had a limb find at 22 but did not produce a consistent forward race. TJ had a nonproductive in the first half going birdless the rest of his mostly lateral race.

Hales Super Hero, Pointer Male, owned and handled by Bruce Hale had his third find at 25 finishing very strong with a lot of heavy scouting along the way. Finn Deception HYKlass, Setter Male, handled by Sheldon Twer owned by Jeff Gilbertson was picked up at 37.

Opening brace of Saturday for the stake found Prime View, English Setter Female under the tutelage of Terry Erickson O/H braced against Wells Fargo John, English Pointer Male O/H by Paul Wells. John was producing a rather erratic race and Paul elected to pick up at the half way marker. Babe was laying down an extremely impression forward race through the first half with little help from handler. At the turn and entrance to heavy cover she produced four stylish finds and one nonproductive, with the final find just at finish.

Biggs Special Chips Pointer Male, O/H by Torben Hansen was up early for taking a bird at 14. Stinson's Moonlight Joe Pointer Male, O/H by Ron Bader ran a nice controlled forward shooting dog race with 2 clean finds and one nonproductive.

Hale's Super Hero, Pointer Male, O/H by Bruce Hale had an accident at 10 completing his effort. Kady Pilgrimaire Briar, Pointer Male, handled by Torben Hansen, owned by Kerston & Ray Blades had two nice finds before disappearing at 30.

Orange Crush, Pointer Female O/H by Ron Young had a nice find, nonproductive and a back before she decided to help handler with the flush. Smokin Nikki Setter Female O/H by Ron Bader spent the hour birdless with one back.

Bullet's Ricochet Pointer Male O/H by Torben Hansen had two clean finds but laid down a inconsistent race. Bold as Brass Pointer Female O/H by Bruce Hale was not reported.

Righteous Setter Male O/H by Tom Griffin started relatively slow but built the race throughout, with a single find and 2 backs over the course of the hour. Promise Keeper Pointer Male O/H by Ed Dixon was named Runner up Champion with his four nice finds.

White Hawk Pointer Male O/H by Torben Hansen put down some "extreme" feet and was out of judgment at 30. Paladela's Calif Jack Pointer Male O/H by Sal Satallante was declared Champion based of 4 nice finds and a consistent shooting dog race.

The eighth brace paired Lt. Dan Setter Male handled by Terry Erickson, owned by Dr. W. Hal Meyer against Powder River Man Pointer Male O/H by Tom Griffin. Dan had a hillside find at 5 but failed to demonstrate sufficient style to handler and was picked up. Man had a hard charging race with two clean finds but proved to be a bit difficult to handle.

Stinson's Rebel Star Pointer Male, O/H by Ron Bader was up at 14 for unauthorized engagement with a bird. Rocking Rim Dakota, Pointer Male O/H by Ed Dixon was up at 14 on his third find for a breach of manners.

Sports Machine Pointer Male, O/H by Ron Young ran in the rain with Horizon's AJ Setter Male O/H by Jerry Erickson. Handlers elected to pick up at 50 and 52 respectively after having gone birdless.

See Jo Go Setter Female O/H by Jerry Erickson ran a large forward, nice application shooting dog race producing a shared find with Promise Land Pointer Male O/H by Ron Young at 20. Luke had produced his first find some 10 minutes earlier running his race pretty much inside of Jo's.

Pajaro Lady Setter Female O/H by Tom Griffin ran a bye in the final brace. Not finding a competitor to her left/right/front or behind, she took to the hills at about 4 minutes and subsequently declared out of judgment.

BILL WEST OPEN DERBY CLASSIC:

The derby put down 12 dogs which were viewed by Judging duo Bill Gibbons and Bruce Hale. First place was Sunset's Rogue, Pointer Male owned by Vince Teofilo, 2nd Bullett's Super Boomer, Pointer Male owned by Jan and Kent Greenough and third was Sunrise Elhew Kody Pointer Male owned by Jili Greer. All three dogs were handled by California professional Sheldon Twer.