Grand Champion Hillsboro Graphic ’14 with professional whipper-in Leilani Hrisko. Judges (l-r) are MFHs Tony Leahy and Dr. Jack Van Nagell / David Traxler photoHillsboro Graphic ’14 was judged Grand Champion of Show at the thirty-ninth annual Carolinas Hound Show held at the Springdale Race Course in Camden, South Carolina on May 8 and 9, 2015.
Whelped to royal bloodlines—American on the sire’s side and English on the dam’s side—it should have been no surprise to see Graphic garner top honors. Her sire is Hillsboro Jethro ’08, son of the magnificent Potomac Jefferson ’05, Grand Champion Foxhound at Virginia in the year of the MFHA Centennial celebration, 2007.
On the dam’s side, Graphic goes back in tail female to North Cotswold Grapefruit ’95, a Peterborough Champion and dam of several influential foxhounds in North America including Iroquois Grundy ’98, Master Jerry Miller’s all-time favorite foxhound, and Mid-Devon Grocer ’00, sire of Virginia and Bryn Mawr champion hounds from Blue Ridge.
Foxhounds from fourteen hunts and five states trod the flags at Carolinas: Aiken, Camden, DeLa Brooke, Green Creek, Hillsboro, Keswick, Lowcountry, Moore County, Red Mountain, Sedgefield, Tennessee Valley, Tryon, Whiskey Road, and Why Worry.
The Grand Championship class was judged by Tony Leahy, MFH, Massbach Hounds (IL) and Dr. Jack Van Nagell, MFH, Iroquois Hunt (KY). Other judges at the Carolinas Show were Andrew Barclay, former huntsman, Green Spring Valley Hounds (MD) in the Crossbred Ring; Charles Montgomery, huntsman, Bull Run Hunt (VA) in the Penn-Marydel Ring; and Marion Thorne, MFH and huntsman, Genesee Valley Hunt (NY) in the English and American Rings.
In addition to the superior tail lines, both male and female, that went into the making of this Champion hound, Judge Leahy notes that Hillsboro Graphic possesses exceptional bloodlines inside the pedigree as well. With Vale of the White Horse (UK) as close as the second generation and with superior American blood going back to the Deep Run Hunt (VA), “there is no weak side to the whole family,” said Leahy.
Graphic, “a spectacular mover” / David Traxler photoIt was Graphic’s movement that distinguished her from the other breed champions in the final class of the day according to both judges—Leahy and Van Nagell. “Graphic was correct in every aspect,” said Leahy, “but what struck me right away was that she was far and away the best mover. She’s very athletic, drives off her hind end…a spectacular mover.”
Van Nagell concurred. “It was really a very good class,” he said. “The American dog hound [Keswick Saracen ’12] was Reserve Grand Champion, and the English Champion [Gopher ’14] also from Hillsboro was beautiful, but Graphic not only had excellent conformation, she was a terrific mover!”
“There was a lot of quality at the show,” noted Leahy. “The standard was very high.”
Van Nagell agreed. “The quality of hounds at Carolinas gets better and better every time I judge there,” he said. “It’s the nicest hound show because of the people, the camaraderie and the attitude!
Posted May 22, 2015
David Traxler photo