June 29, 2015
Rachel Gray, Whipper-In, Former Jockey, Killed in Motorcycle Accident
Douglas Lees photoRachel Lynne Gray, 31, died early Thursday morning, June 25, 2015, at the scene of a motorcycle accident around midnight. Born in Warrenton, Virginia, Rachel was a skilled horsewoman. She whipped-in to her husband, Spencer Allen, huntsman of the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA), and she was a former jockey at Charles Town and other racetracks. She is survived by her parents—her father, Butch Gray, is a former Piedmont huntsman—three children, four sisters, and extended family and friends. A celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 12 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville. Interment to follow at Bright View Cemetery, Warrenton, with a reception from 3-6 pm at Black Horse Inn. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a Memorial Fund for the benefit of her children. Details to follow. Click for more information provided by the Moser Funeral Home. Posted June 29, 2015
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Foxhunting Life in Print?
We have an idea, but only you—Foxhunting Life readers—can tell us whether it’s a good one. Hence, we’re asking you to take a very short survey of no more than three yes-or-no questions. For the past few years, we have been emailing our twice-monthly e-magazine, FHL WEEK, in electronic form. We know many of you like it because more than 4,000 of you have registered to receive it. Some of you are paying subscribers, able to read the entire text of all the articles and gain access to all the resources of the website. Others are satisfied to receive the free e-magazine with only limited access to the articles. We’re hoping that our idea will appeal to all of you—paying and non-paying subscribers alike. Many of you may still prefer to read a printed page—at your leisure, in a favorite chair or in bed. How could we satisfy that need, we wondered, without the expense of printing and mailing paper magazines? What if we email a PDF of the magazine with the full text of all the articles, something subscribers could simply print out on their own color printer? No “readmore” links to click. Print it, and carry it away. We’d even leave a good margin on the left, so pages could be punched and stored in binders. If you’re already a paying subscriber, would the inclusion of a printable PDF file along with our e-magazine be a welcome addition to your subscription? We need to know! Please help us by taking this very short survey for paying subscribers, requiring “yes” or “no” answers to just three questions. If you’re a non-paying subscriber and content to receive the free e-magazine but sometimes want to read the full text of all articles, would the inclusion of a printable PDF file add sufficient value to encourage you to become a paying subscriber? Please help us by taking this very short survey for non-paying subscribers, requiring “yes” or “no” answers to just two questions. All of us love foxhunting, else we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Please help FHL to do a good job for you and for our sport by clicking on the appropriate link above and answering these few questions. It will take just seconds. Thank you. Posted June 29, 2015
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T&NY Littermates Dominate Grand Champion Class at Canadian
Canadian Grand Champion of Show is Toronto and North York Cleopatra 2012 / Mary Raphael photo
Two Toronto and North York littermates have dominated the Grand Champion and Reserve awards at the Canadian Foxhound Show for two years running. The only difference this year was that the dog hound graciously swapped places with his litter sister. On June 6, 2015, in a reversal of fortune, Toronto and North York Cleopatra 2012, last year’s Reserve Grand Champion, was crowned Grand Champion of Show, while her litter brother Clarence, last year’s Grand Champion, settled for Reserve.
The show judges were Major Tim Easby, Director, Masters of Foxhounds Association (UK) and ex-MFH and huntsman of the Middleton and West Yore Foxhounds and Lt. Col. Robert Ferrer, USMC-Retired and MFH, Caroline Hunt (VA).
Cleopatra's sire is Blue Ridge Barnfield 2010 by Duke of Beaufort's Bailey 2003. If Bailey sounds familiar, have a look at the article about this year’s Bryn Mawr Grand Champion, New Market-Middleton Valley Widget, crowned just one week earlier. Widget’s sire was Green Spring Valley Bailey by Duke of Beaufort’s Bailey. That makes two Grand Champions in two weeks whose grand sire is Duke of Beaufort’s Bailey!
