“Coolwater’s Ready to Go”, owned and handled by Alexandra Washburn made retriever history on March 19, 2005 .  Alex and Ready claimed $25,000, the largest purse in competitive retriever history, and the title:  “World Retriever Champion." 

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Ready, a 5 ½ year old male black labrador retriever, emerged with a total of 188 points, four points ahead of second place finisher, Downtown Dusty Brown (2004 High Point Derby Dog handled by Danny Heard).

“It was a very close race throughout with crowd favorite Jerry Day’s “Nike” consistently sitting in the top three in nearly every series up to the final,” stated co-organizer and Vice President, Clayton Hiett .

Like the Tortoise and the Hare

Ready’s performance paralleled the fabled tortoise and the hare.   While many competitors earned perfect scores in a series or two, nearly all of them also had a bad run along the way. Ready consistently performed well in all, without a single poor score in any of his ten “trips to the line."

Mississippi Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation Officer Randy Bishop launched the event at the handler’s dinner on the eve of series #1 with a coin toss.  A Silver Dollar, white on one side and camouflage on the other, landed white side up, determining series order.  The final series, worth double points over the previous nine was determined to be a Field Trial setup.  This meant the starting series would be a “hunt test” type.

Olympic-style Judging a Retriever Trial First

Four judges, two from hunt test heritage and two from a field trial background; put their preferences and opinions on the line as “olympic-style” judging was done in the first nine series.  As soon as each retriever ended its run, all four judge’s scores were posted, along with that retriever’s series total and cumulative score.   Each judge could award up to five points per series for the first nine, and up to ten points for the tenth and final series. 

The competition alternated one hunt test, then one “white coat” series for all ten series.  The competition’s start was at 8:30 AM Monday the 14^th of March as Stacy West approached the line with #25, Abbie.  Two shots were fired by a “partner” as Stacy and his retriever walked to the line off lead.  A 200 yard cold blind retrieve was required, after which the handler loaded up primer loads in his 870.  He and his partner proceeded to fire from the line at each of the three marks to make up a “Master Level” hunt test land triple.

From Seventy Seven Starters to Seven Finalists

Seventy Seven retrievers ran in the first series, with only two failing to complete it.  Of the seventy five that came to the line in the second series, a straight forward field trial setup with strong bird placement, five retrievers scored zeros having been “picked up” by their handlers.  Another eighteen dogs were “cut” from the field, being below the clear point break at twenty two cumulative points.

The alternation from hunt test to field trial continued throughout.  By series #8 the field had been trimmed down to fifteen dogs.  The eighth was an “all-age-level” Field Trial water blind with a 75 yard land entry to the water and a total distance of 289 yards that involved intermittent swimming with the crossing of two “scented points”. 

More Nervous than when he stared down Hank Aaron

When wished good luck before running the eighth, former Dodgers Pitcher Jim Haller responded, “I've stared down Hank Aaron from the mound and I've never been this nervous!”  Ultimately, Haller handled his own yellow lab male, “TKO’s Elvis," to a third place finish.

From the eighth, twelve retrievers made the cut, going into a challenging hunt test series with an honor, a cold blind and a triple for number nine.  The sky cleared and the final few hours of sunlight shone down on the seven finalists for the 10^th series. 

“Without our sponsors, this would not have been possible,”  stated Clay Hiett.  “Sportdog Brand, Arkat Animal Nutrition, Dogs Afield, OLN, DJ Calls, Avery Outdoors, Ainley Fabrication and RNT Calls all helped greatly in getting this first event of its kind off the ground.”

Television broadcast of the event premieres on OLN on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at 7 PM and 10PM Eastern time.

In the end, the most consistent performer was the one who got the gold.  The old saying goes, that slow and steady wins the race.  Although not slow like a tortoise, he certainly was steady.  His name, again, is “Ready.”

Christopher D. Atkinson
Secretary and Chief Operating Officer
World Retriever Championship, Inc.