PrintThe unentered bitch pulls off a big win over esteemed company.
As the hounds started posing and pouncing on biscuits at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show, May 20 in Malvern, Pa., Potomac (Md.) Huntsman Larry Pitts was optimistic about his chances.
Potomac Jacket ’06 had been reserve grand champion foxhound at the Virginia Hound Show a week earlier and topped the American dog hound championship at Bryn Mawr. But in the final judging for the American foxhound title, an unentered hound took over the winning.
Potomac’s Driftwood (Potomac Bishop ’04—their Dressy ’06) claimed the American title over Jacket and then went on to top the grand foxhound championship.
“We were kind of expecting Jacket to win, but Driftwood is a good-looking bitch. Our unentered hounds hadn’t been showing that well this year, so we weren’t expecting a lot,” Pitts said.
“She got her confidence about showing and showed beautifully, and she’s a great looking hound,” he added. “She’s the right type—the judges thought so, and we thought so. She’s a little leggy and a little long—a galloping type. She’s got great feet.”
Driftwood hadn’t shown her best at Virginia, so she placed out of contention. But at Bryn Mawr, she was all business.
“She was sharp; she showed perfectly,” said Pitts, who showed her. “She didn’t pay any attention to what was going on around her; she was paying attention to who was showing her.”
Pitts is no stranger to winning. Potomac Jefferson ’05 took the grand foxhound championship at the Virginia and Bryn Mawr shows in 2007. With Jefferson’s line, Pitts has a powerhouse. Jacket is a son of Jefferson, and Jefferson won the stallion hound with get class. Jefferson’s full brother, Potomac Jeopardy ’05, topped the stallion hound class over Jefferson’s son, Potomac Magnet ’07.
But Driftwood isn’t part of that royal family.
“She’s sort of an oddity for us. She’s got breeding from three different places. It’s not really our traditional breeding. Her father was half Penn-Marydel and her dam was by a dog from Mission Valley. She has a lot of different lines in her,” Pitts said.
Lark Honors His Sire With Penn-Marydel Win
Ciaran Murphy has a vision for where he wants to take the Golden’s Bridge pack of Penn-Marydel hounds. Showing Golden’s Bridge Lark ’07 to the Penn-Marydel championship and Golden’s Bridge’s Keeper to the unentered Penn-Marydel title assured him he’s on the right track.
