Gortinreagh Gala on point at Glenlivet

Gala working on to produce her grouse. Some of the covey take flight, some still remain on the ground.

Gala was my puppy entry for 2014.  She is a daughter of FTCh Gortinreagh Aztec of Glynlark, Carol Calvert’s ESD who is a son of my Int FTCh Gardenfield Warrior.  Like her predecessors, she is excellent on game and despite being a little lacking in confidence to begin with, she soon found herself in the awards – gaining 2nd place in the Pointer Club of Scotland’s summer Novice Stake and being awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Kennel Club Puppy Derby, run in 2014 by Scottish Field Trials Association in the Scottish borders.

Gala came back to Scotland in Summer 2015 having trialled very little since the previous year.  She immediately settled to the job and clinched the North of Scotland Novice Stake with an absolutely cracking find in the first round and some very nice running in the second.

After this trip Gala moved to the Glynlark kennel and continued her career with Carol Calvert.  By October 2016 she claimed her first Open Stake under judges Andy Law and Eoghan Marshall on the tough hill that is Slieveanorra in Co Antrim.  She ran very well and had excellent finds with provocation in both rounds and just pipped my puppy Ballyellen Tango to the win.  Another good day for the Gortinreagh Kennel.

Gala continued to figure in the awards over the next few seasons but really had come into her own in the Summer of 2019 when all the craftiness experience had taught her came into its own and she was placed in many of the trials she ran in.  She had an excellent visit to Eggleston for the English Setter Breed Stake in July.  An excellent find on the extreme right wing of her beat, early in the first round which she combined with  a back in Round 2 and some very controlled wide quartering secured the Runner-up spot for her behind her kennel mate, Ballyellen Bluegrass.  She handled the very birdy conditions at Bollihope Moor extremely well at the end of July and was awarded a Diploma of Honour in the 2019 Champion Stake.  From then she moved to Scotland and competed in 4 Open Stakes – she took 3rd place behind Gortinreagh Jack Duggan in the Scottish Gundog Association at Glenlivet, secured a Certificate of Merit at the Pointer Club of Scotland’s Open Stake at Dorback, behind Faith, Tango and Jemma and moved to top spot in the Northern Counties Pointer and Setter Society Open at Moy Estate – the win giving her her FTCh title.