Journal Donau 2018
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SIGHTHOUND FESTIVAL DONAUESCHINGEN 2017<br />
both days in <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen.<br />
Now, that alone was a sight to<br />
bring tears in one’s eyes!<br />
The Sobresalto saga starts elsewhere<br />
in the South of Italy, and<br />
even though somewhat more<br />
recently, it’s been an adventure<br />
anyone in the sport would be<br />
pleased to have taken part of. The<br />
international success in which<br />
Annalisa Rovani and Arnaldo<br />
Cotugno’s home-bred Sobresaltos<br />
and imports have revelled in<br />
have elevated their hometown<br />
Naples worthy of note within<br />
the sport, and have made it a<br />
destination to more of the dog<br />
fancy than any other kennel in<br />
the region ever did. They have<br />
bred well over a 100 Champions,<br />
covering many countries around<br />
the world, numerous International<br />
Champions, All-Breed and<br />
Specialty Best in Show winners,<br />
and have been extremely successful<br />
at FCI World and European<br />
Dog Shows as well as in the<br />
whelping box, having made a<br />
positive impact on the breed’s<br />
gene pool worldwide. I believe<br />
there is no better representative<br />
of the kennel to illustrate their<br />
importance and success than<br />
their hugely successful European<br />
Winner & Veteran World Winner,<br />
Int.Multi.Ch. Sobresalto Jamiroquai.<br />
Having sired 29 Champion<br />
offspring, ‘Jami’ became a highly<br />
influential sire in the breed and<br />
a breakthrough stud his breeders.<br />
At the height of his show<br />
career, he won Best in Show<br />
at both the Swedish Whippet<br />
National in Sweden (the non-<br />
Scandinavian owned dog to do<br />
so!) and Supreme Best in Show<br />
at <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen’s 2005 edition,<br />
as well as Beauty and Performance<br />
winner at the French<br />
Whippet National. He waved<br />
‘Good Bye’ to the show ring in<br />
grand style by going Veteran<br />
Best in Show at the FCI World<br />
Dog Show in Paris in 2011.<br />
Spirits sky high around the<br />
Whippet ring<br />
There are many more notable<br />
Sobresaltos I could list, but I must<br />
highlight one above all on this<br />
occasion, and that would be SBIS<br />
BIS WW’16 Int.Multi.Ch. Sobers<br />
XXX. Owned by aforementioned<br />
Enrico de Gaspari in Italy and<br />
handled by breeder Arnaldo. She<br />
won Best of Breed both on Saturday<br />
and Sunday under breed<br />
judges Paulo Coelho of Roseira<br />
Brava from Portugal and Molly<br />
Rule-Steele of Taejeen from Australia,<br />
sweetened with a placement<br />
in Best in Show both days.<br />
Sounds absolutely remarkable,<br />
doesn’t it. Well, what if I said all<br />
this was done from the record<br />
ever entry of Whippets <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen<br />
ever saw? From an<br />
entry of 236 on Saturday, and<br />
206 on Sunday, to be exact.<br />
To win Best of Breed, she had<br />
to go toe to toe with a previous<br />
Best in Show winner in <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen:<br />
WW’15 Int.Multi.Ch.<br />
Jesrae Game of Thrones, bred<br />
by Diana Hansen in South Africa<br />
and owned by Jan Willem Akerboom<br />
and Kris van de Schaaf in<br />
the Netherlands. ‘Pan’ himself<br />
is one of the breed’s most accomplished<br />
specimen of recent<br />
times, and has left quite a mark<br />
on the breed as a sire. A two time<br />
RCC winner at Crufts, he recently<br />
gained his UK Champion title<br />
at Belfast Championship Show,<br />
which is a most impressive accomplishment,<br />
considering the<br />
level of competition one has<br />
to face in this breed in Britain.<br />
Also, Jan and Kris’ young males,<br />
Creme Anglaise’s Dom Perignon<br />
won Best Puppy in Breed and<br />
Best Puppy in Show both days<br />
and Creme Anglaise’s Beau Rivage<br />
won Junior Best in Show on<br />
Sunday.<br />
In addition to this, on Saturday,<br />
home-bred Ch. Sobresalto Vuelta<br />
Ganar claimed the CC and<br />
second Best Bitch to ‘Sexy’ and<br />
SBIS Ch. Sobresalto Buscar Besos<br />
placed second in Champion<br />
males and was Best Male with<br />
BOS on Sunday. In fact, ‘Leone’<br />
won Best in Show at Italy’s largest<br />
Sighthound Specialty in<br />
Padenghe this year and was, as a<br />
matter of fact, sired by a prominent<br />
stud Sobers imported from<br />
Scandinavia.<br />
Bitte and Pieri’s close to 10 years<br />
old all-star and Crufts’11 BOB<br />
winner, SBIS WW’10 Int.Multi.Ch.<br />
Sobers Ingrid won Best Veteran<br />
in Breed both days, and Best Veteran<br />
in Show on Saturday.<br />
It’s quite safe to say the Sobresaltos<br />
walked away with an absolute<br />
grandslam from <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen<br />
this year. ‘Sexy’s’ account<br />
of show wins is becoming ever<br />
more impressive, as of this time<br />
encompassing 8 All-Breed Best<br />
in Shows, 28 Group wins, the FCI<br />
World Winner title, a previous<br />
<strong>Donau</strong>eschingen win in 2015<br />
and Best in Specialty Show at<br />
the Whippet World Club Show<br />
in 2015. To top it all, she was<br />
Italy’s Nr 2 Dog All Breeds (both<br />
systems) and Top Sighthound<br />
(ENCI system) in 2016. This year,<br />
she gained her crown in Sweden<br />
as well and placed second in an<br />
extremely strong competition of<br />
Whippet bitches at the Strömsholm<br />
‘Skokloster’ Sighthound<br />
Specialty just a few weeks prior<br />
to <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen.<br />
The ‘Skokloster’ victors<br />
This year’s Best in Show winning<br />
Azawakh at the Strömsholm<br />
‘Skokloster’ Sighthound Show,<br />
Jari-Pekka Kahelin, and Jussi<br />
Lindholm’s home-bred Japejukan<br />
Az’Ajman payed a visit at<br />
<strong>Donau</strong>eschingen, too, and won<br />
Best of Breed in an entry of 19<br />
(which is quite remarkable for<br />
the breed) from Junior class with<br />
a Reserve Junior Best in Show<br />
and Best in Show-4 on Saturday.<br />
The breed was judged the highly<br />
esteemed Dagmar Hintzenberg-<br />
Freisleben of Sawahin Salukis<br />
from Germany. On Sunday, he<br />
was Best of Opposite to Frieda<br />
van der Mast’s home-bred<br />
Ch.Swala’s Shamarani from the<br />
Netherlands, under Annette Bystrup<br />
from Denmark.<br />
Another ‘Skokloster’ BIS victor<br />
competing in <strong>Donau</strong>eschingen<br />
this year was Renato Dal Cero’s<br />
SBIS Int.Multi.Ch. Rivarco Tinuviel,<br />
bred by Gaetano Turrini and<br />
as always, handled by Rivarco’s<br />
frontman, Mauro Perna in Italy.<br />
She placed second to aforementioned<br />
Ingrid both days. Earlier<br />
this year, she won Veteran Best<br />
in Show at the Padenghe Sighthound<br />
Specialty (Sunday) in Italy.<br />
The end of a fairy tale<br />
As much as we all looked forward<br />
to Molly bestowing the<br />
Supreme Best in Show winner’s<br />
crown on her favourite of the<br />
two top winners, we didn’t actually<br />
want the weekend to end,<br />
and just hoped she would go on<br />
moving them around just always<br />
one more time… Sadly, the fairy<br />
tale had to come to an end at<br />
one point, and even with a series<br />
of hugs and tears from friends,<br />
this wasn’t an easy farewell to<br />
<strong>Donau</strong>eschingen!<br />
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