Journal Donau 2018

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