Moonlake whippets in 1970s

moonlake whippets

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Whippets

Moonlake in the 1970s

Like many, I came into whippets by chance.
Luke, my first whippet, was a rescue with whom I was lucky enough to get registration papers with the idea of finding him a home rather than his imminent fate of a one way trip to the vet. Due to a car accident, the home didn‘t work out and Luke and I were stuck with each other which meant a job change for me as I was working abroad at the time. Little did I realise what an effect on my life this young dog was going to have.

A chance encounter in Kensington Gardens led to the Surrey WRC where I soon discovered that I had a very fast whippet. I also joined my local BWRA . Luke won here, too and I got used to hearing, "very good - for a pedigree" in rather surprised tones. I lacked the commitment to try for a BWRA R Ch title to add to his WCR Ch but he did exceptionally well at the Regional finals and qualified for their championships - to the chagrin of the owners of non pedigree dogs he left in his wake.

wcr ch luke

photo Jim Meads

wcr ch madishan moonlake - luke

click for Madishan Moonlake pedigree

Nicholl Cup winner

It was as Madishan Moonlake, on the coursing field, however, that Luke really brought me joy with demonstrations of speed, endurance, agility and grace as he flowed over the ground, effortlessly matching every turn of the hare. This fixed my determination to breed a line of whippets that would excel on the field. After Luke had won the premier dog cup, the Nicholl Cup, three times, I was allowed to keep it and its replacement became known as the Moonlake Cup.

racing whippet

whippets slipped

photo Jim Meads

chiffy

nimrodel chiff chaff - chiffy

click for Nimrodel Chiff Chaff pedigree

Chiffy had been returned to Mary Lowe, her breeder, because her ears were thought unsuitable for the championship show ring. By now a very junior member of the Whippet Club committee, I jumped at the chance of having her as her quality flat bone, general stamp and what I had seen of Nimrodels on the coursing field, seemed just what I needed for my proposed line of coursing stars. I dutifully showed her a little, she ran well and then tragically, soon after her litter by Luke, my dog walker broke the rule, let her off the lead and she was very badly injured by a car. We saved her life but she could never run or show again...

My first home-bred bitch, Folly was my pride and joy. Well under 18", she was dauntless in everything she undertook.She looked tiny against her contemporaries in the ring but proved a giant killer on the field, sometimes resorting to a "bump" to knock a bigger opponent off its feet. A winner of several coursing stakes and two championship show classes, she had a personality that was unmatched until Fidget came along, twenty years later.

At the Whippet Club championship show, my eye was caught by the winner of Veteran Bitch. Ch Deepridge Miniva was the most beautiful bitch I had ever seen and became the model of what I wanted to breed. What joy and excitement when Miss Hawthorn allowed me to mate Folly to Miniva‘s sire, the legendary Ch Deepridge Mintmaster, who had his fourteenth birthday the day after the mating.

whippet showing

moonlake miss chiff - folly

click for Moonlake Miss Chiff pedigree

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