Australian Yard Dog Championships, trainers win at Mansfield

The Upper Goulburn Working Dog Group and Mansfield Agricultural and Pastoral Society hosted this year's Stock Dog Spectacular at the Mansfield Showgrounds last week and finished on Sunday with several trophies for intrastate competitors.

The Stock Dog Spectacular included the Australian Yard Dog Championships, the National Kelpie Dog Trials and the Supreme Stock Dog Challenge.

Australian Yard Dog Association president Rod Cavill said it was the first time all three competitions were back-to-back but the new scheduling proved to be "epic".

"It's my second time I've run the championship trials, but first time at Mansfield that we've run them all together, which was pretty epic," he said.

"The competitors loved it, it was a good way to do it, it was a lot of work and took a lot of coordination to get it all organised.

"They were a bit blown away and wondered how we could run it all smoothly, they were impressed with how we managed to do that."

About 1800 wethers from Mansfield's Delatite Station and 300 head of cattle from Merton's Fox Pastoral were needed for all three events that had 90 individual trainers with 300 dogs competing to make up 700 runs total.

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Mr Cavill said there was a strong representation across all states and territories but Victorians did particularly well across the board.

"Each state has a representative at the Australian championships each year, it'll be their state champion or someone that has been successful in the past 12 months," he said.

Hamilton trainer Joe Spicer won the top prize with GoGetta Clue, while Hexham trainer and this year's state champion Kate Jubb placed second with Woodja Cruise while Tasmanian Tim Hall came in third with Jindi Spade.

Runner-up Ms Jubb is based on a Hexham sheep and cattle farm and is Victoria's most recent state champion after her December win.

She entered three dogs in the national championships, with two reaching the top 25.

"I just had my baby who's three-weeks-old, it was a bit of a challenge to get up there but we got there," Ms Jubb said.

"I was feeling fantastic, the support has been overwhelming to help me get there and the dogs worked fantastic so I'm really grateful for that."

Meanwhile, the notable Supreme Stock Dog Challenge finished with New South Wales trainer Justin Tombs placing first, while Victorian Campbell Smedley's dogs Tundabardi Mick came second and Tundabardi Zoe placed third.

It's the second year that competitors have taken part in the Supreme Stock Dog Challenge, which includes an arena trial, cattle trial and yard trial.

"The concept is we're looking for that really versatile dog that can handle all situations," Mr Cavill said.

Winner Justin Tombs said he felt thrilled but surprised to take out the top prize with his dog X.

"I didn't even think I was in contention," he said.

"We were on totally different pages at the National Kelpie Trial, and I let him down in the Australian Yard, but I had a bit of luck with him in the Supreme Stock Dog Challenge.

"The club that ran it did a pretty good job, it's definitely challenging running multiple events like that."

Fellow Victorians Craig Ogier, Roland Pell and Travis Scott placed fourth, fifth and six in the Supreme Stock Dog Challenge.

The National Kelpie Field Trials was also on show at Mansfield with a six-dog final that went down to the wire.

NSW trainer Kevin Howell won the trophy with Karana Roy IV, Victoria's Adam James placed second with Myamba Moss and NSW trainer Robert Cox came in third with Bruiser.

Mr Howell started competing in 1987 before he won his first national trial in 1996, with this year's trial marking his tenth national win.

"I had a dog called Karana Abba the Second who won it for the second time eight years ago," he said.

"I didn't think I'd get a dog good enough to win it again and then my dog Roy (Abba's son) came up with the goods over the week and we got our 10th win which I'm over the moon about.

"It proves champions breed champions."

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