nieuws - 18/11/2012
Kortrijk prepares for its Jubileumshow - België
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door Karl Donvil
Kortrijk prepares for its Jubileumshow
Indeed 49 editions ago it all started in 1964 in Menen, a small town in the neighborhood of Kortrijk. Now it is, without any doubt, the number one show in Flanders and the strongest competitor of the national show of Belgium in Brussels. It is the most famous and best known in Belgium, but also in Europe.
For Britain this show has always been the most important “overseas” show. This year no less than 173 dogs crossed the channel to participate, the fourth nationality of the show and even better represented than Germany. And this counts only for the participants of the show. The Handling competitions for example has its regular British competitors. Besides this, there are more judges from the UK invited than from Belgium and any other country.
A slight decrease once more in absolute number for the show. We count 2987 entries while last year there were 3066. The organizers claim to have 4500 dogs on the show, including the participants for the many competitions like Agility, Fly-ball, Obedience and the dogs giving demonstrations. But I count 300 entries for Agility, 80 for obedience. The catalog says there are 29 countries represented and 65 judges from 16 countries. For the show I count 42 judges and dogs from 21 different countries. These numbers are at least very confusing and difficult to control. But does it matter so much? Fact is that I am impressed by the number ring stewards, 67, and collaborators, 6o plus the 23 members of the committee. Those people are responsible for bringing a show of this size smoothly to a good end. The degree of perfection of this show was and still is an example to many other shows. This show has also been copied many times for its dog-festival-aspect, bringing the positive relations between man and dog into the spotlights via demonstrations of the many canine disciplines. Besides standardizing of the breeds, this is one of the most important and nowadays maybe the most important reason for organizing dog shows. Guide dogs for the blind and assistance dogs for the disabled, sports with obedience, agility, fly-ball and apache, fun with Doggy Dance (heelwork to music), everything is there to entertain the visitors. No other show is a better promotion for dogs and dog sports than the Kortrijk Eurodogshow and the entry fee offers the best value for money. The entertainment for children is amazing with one carrousel and 3 big jumping castles. And for those who want to shop, the number of commercial stands is nowhere bigger than here.
In Kortrijk one can expect some strong competition and winning BOB has a bigger value here than on other shows. It gives also a much stronger international radiation, adding “BOB or BOS or CACIB KORTRIJK” to the records of your dog. And you can also find some very exotic names of judges on the list, often breed specialists and also judges that come here for the first time. From the 42 judges only 8 were Belgian judges. As mentioned before 10 came from the UK. Besides the 6 judges from Germany and the 3 from France and 3 from Italy, all others came from different countries in Europe and as far as Greece and Russia. But there was only a judge from the States and one from as far as New Zealand. Very unusual was the fact that only 10 judges officiated on both days. Top-judge on Saturday was Mrs.Dianna Spatin from the UK. She had 62 Cavalier King Charles , 33 Beagles and 18 Basset Hounds. Mr.Evgeni Rosenberg from Russia came close with 112 dogs (including 79 Great Danes) He judged on Sunday too but only had 34 dogs then. Mr.Nikolas Vazakas from Greece was also a one-day-er. He finished Saturday after having examined 86 dogs. Mr.Jean-Francois Vanaken vrom Belgium had a nice number of Poodles and some other breeds and that brought him altogether on a total of 83 entries. Mr.Hans-Karl Schneider from Germany finished his day after 82 dogs, all Pinshers and Schnauzers. Mr Van Raamsdonk, also from Belgium had 80 dogs in his ring. There were nice numbers of Leonbergers, 59, for Mr.Guido Perosino from Italy, and Newfoundlanders, 62, for Mr.Frank Kane who finished the weekend with 164 entries, thus becoming the second most popular judge of the show. Mrs.Willemine Van Deijl from Belgium had 93 dogs on Sunday and 122 in total. Mr.Philip Docwra from the UK judged on Sunday only, both varieties of Bull Terriers, and finished his judging after 62 specimen. The American Staffordshires were reserved for American judge Mr. William Roadhouse. He had 78 in total. Mrs Jolly Sue from Britain had the very same number, but Golden Retrievers this time while the 68 Labradors and 15 Flat Coats were reserved for Mrs.Julie Bedfort-Pope from New Zealand. All the Belgian Shepherd varieties were subjected to the verdict of Mrs.Bente Harlem from Norway. He had 73 in total, an amazing number. Mr.Javier Sanchez from Spain is a very respected all round judge. His popularity is can be read in the nice numbers he had on both days. On Saturday he had 90 dogs including 76 French Bulldogs. On Sunday the 61 Staffordshire Terriers brought his total to 79 or 169 for the whole weekend, the best score of the show.
All BOG winners were placed for the finals and it was not easy for Mr.Sanchez. It is always much easier only to pick out 3. Now he needs to place a dog on number 10, 9, 8 etc. Notwithstanding the fact that these dogs won a whole group on a prestigious show, taking place behind number 10, 9, 8.. gives a false impression of having lost. That is why I am in strong favor for placing only 3, making all dogs from 4 till 10 ex-aequo’s on the 4th place. For me they are all 4th place and that is why I start with focusing on Mr.Sanchez’ 3rd place, the Beagle “Ch.Roeper’s Magic In The Air”, a dutch 3 year old female bred and owned by Mrs. Tineke Perfors. Mrs.Diane Spavin picked her out 33 Beagles to compete for BOG 6, that she won under judge Mr.Niksa Lemo from Croatia. Runner Up to Best In Show went to the English Pointer “Weimpoint Keep Smilin’”, bred and owned in Belgium by Kristina and Edwin Lenaerts. There were 6 in competition and Keep Smilin is again a bitch, little more than a year. The judge for the breed was Mrs.Danielle Letroye-Lantin and Group judge was Mrs.Adriana Griffa from Italy. There were a lot of British victories this edition, but it was a nice surprise to see a British dog win Best In Show. Mrs. Chadwick Dudleyglenys entered her Afgan Hound, in open class dogs to be judged by Mr.Massimiliano Mannucci from Italy. There was pretty strong competition, 32 in total, but her Afgan won. The victory continued later on in the Group finals when Mr. Evgeni Rosenberg decided to send this dog to the finals for Best In Show. And the rest we know, a fantastic trophy to take home to Britain. Afterglow is a 5 year old dog, bred by Mr. Michael Jason Gatsby Lynn.
Let’s hope that this British win creates the hope to win next year, where ever you come from. Next edition will be a jubilee edition, celebrating the 50th edition and I can assure you, expectations are high. The committee hopes to reach 5000 entries by turning this edition into a very special one, starting with a double CACIB. Cancel any show you have on 16 and 17 november next year and book this one. You will not regret it. It will be an edition beyond expectations.
Text and photos: Karl DONVIL
Results: EURODOGSHOW and Karl DONVIL
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