Pointer. Richard G. Beauchamp
the Amateur Field Champion title. He was trained in the field by Steven Ashe and handled by Karin and Kristen Ashe.
The Marjetta kennels of Marjorie Martorella made a name in Pointers beginning in the 1970s. Marjorie bred her first Pointer litter in 1974 and over the past three decades has produced over 100 champions. Marjorie’s foundation dam, Ch. Truewithem A Taste of Triumph, sired by Ch. Counterpoint’s Lord Ashley, produced 4 BIS winners among her 29 champions: Ch. Marjetta Lord Carlton, Ch. Marjetta Lady Vanessa, Ch. Marjetta Mylestone and Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, the 1985 Westminster victor, handled by Michael Zollo and owned by Mrs. Alan Robson. The Marjetta Pointers have been used as the foundation of many current kennels, including Birnamwood, Homestead, Karolina, Kingscroft, Olympus, Steinhoff and Sunset.
Coming into prominence in the early 1970s, the Shandown Pointers of Shan and Leon Shiver owned and produced many top Pointers; among them were Ch. Shandown’s King’s Ransom, Ch. Shandown’s Playboy, Ch. Shandown’s King of The Road, Ch. Shandown’s Dress Parade, Ch. Shandown’s Black Knight, Ch. Shandown’s Touch O’Kings and Ch. Shandown’s Diamond Jim.
Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, Best in Show at Westminster in 1986, with handler Michael Zollo.
MORE THAN COMPARING LEMONS AND ORANGES
by Wayne Cavanaugh
In 1979 the very first Pointer with black pigment (a black nose and eye rims) to win the national specialty was Henri Tuthill’s orange and white Ch. Cumbrian Sea Breeze. He was 100% English breeding out of an imported dam and by an imported sire. Joyce and Athos Nilson had imported his sire, and Henri had imported his dam from George Holliday, who had obtained her from Peter Woodford at the Stonethorpe kennel. So after 40 consecutive years of liver-nosed national winners, Sea Breeze finally turned the tide.
Prior to this historic win, no Pointer had ever won the national, or even the breed at Westminster, that didn’t have liver nose and eye pigment; that is, they were all either livers or lemons. It is generally accepted worldwide that yellow-marked Pointers with liver eye and nose pigment are called “lemons,” and yellow-marked pointers with black noses are called “orange” regardless of the shade of yellow, which can be anything from deep bronze to pale buckskin. The reason for this is simple: they produce very different colors when bred—no black nose, no black puppies. Actually with the exception of a few superb imports in the late 1960s and early ’70s (a few Crookrise, Toberdoney and Cumbrian dogs from England, and later some from Scandinavia), oranges with black noses and black and white Pointers simply were not even seen in the show ring. That is, they were all liver and white, or the occasional recessive lemon and white, neither of which can carry for black!
The very next year, in 1980, another orange and white won the national, Ch. Rossenarra Amontillado of Crookrise, an orange and white English import. “Myles,” as he was known, was only bred to 7 times, due in part perhaps to his then “rare” color, but produced 22 champions, including 3 Best in Show winners—2 blacks and one orange—and still remains on the top sire list. Of the top 13 sires of all time, 6 are his descendants. Perhaps as important, 14 of the last 20 national Best of Breed winners are his descendants. Myles was tightly line-bred on Ch. Crookrise Flint of Kitty Edmonson’s old Crookrise line.
Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim, a liver and white, was a Best in Show winner at Westminster. “Deputy,” as he was known, was a line-bred dog of the old Truewithem line of the late Bob Parkers. Interestingly, he had a cross to one of those first wave of orange and white imports, Ch. Crookrise Jesse, through his sire’s side. Deputy was a hugely popular stud dog, sire of 107 champions, and also remains on the top of the top sire list in the number-one spot. Of the top 13 sires of all time, 3 are his descendants. While he never won the national specialty, 8 of the last 20 national Best of Breed winners were descendants of his; amazingly, all 8 are also descendants of Myles.
The year 1974 marks a special occasion for the Crookrise kennels of England and their dedicated breeders Walter and Kitty Edmonson. At the 1974 national show, Ch. Crookrise Greg won Best of Breed, the first time this kennel won the American national since their inception in the early 1900s. Another Crookrise dog won the national in 1980, this being Ch. Rossenarra Amontillado of Crookrise. Even though the kennel has not produced a top-winning dog in its history, being a small operation, the Crookrise dogs can be found in all but one of the dogs that have won the national specialty in the past 25 years. While the breed no longer has as many large gene pool families as it did in the past, there are few top-winning Pointers in the American show ring today that don’t have some variation of the old Crookrise-Truewithem (or a similar English-American cross). This longstanding kennel is continued on by the Edmondsons’ daughter, Cicely Robertshaw.
Sally Barton started her Coralwood kennels in 1977. Her acquisition of foundation sire and dam Ch. Sydmar Coralwoods Grand Slam and Ch. Sydmar the Heartless Wench from Paul Nykiel formed the basis of her current breeding line. She has produced many Best in Show Pointers, including Am./Can. Ch. Coralwood-Ash Hollows Bronx Bomber, Ch. Coralwood-Ash Hollows Wild Indian, Ch. Coralwood-Troon Leads The League and Ch. Coralwood Fielder’s Choice. One of the top dogs bred by Sally came in 1996, in Ch. Oncore’s C’Wood Sportin Good, bred with Dr. Patricia Haines. Owned by D. Hardy and Nicholas Urbanek, he won multiple BIS and countless Group placements. There is no doubt that Sally will continue to hit home runs for the Pointer in the show ring.
Ch. Woolmen’s Apricot Li’ l Tipaway, BOB at Santa Barbara KC in 1982, handled by Bobby Barlow.
The Solivia kennel of Susan Olivia Lewis Thompson began in the early 1970s with Irish Setters and English Cockers, but eventually got into Pointers, Susan’s childhood pet. Since its inception, Solivia has bred over 120 American and international champions, in all colors including solids. One of the foundation dogs here is Ch. Orion of Crookrise, bred by the Crookrise kennels in England, who, when bred to descendants of the old Truewithem line, produced many champions, including Am./Can. Ch. Solivia’s Blackheart Bravado, himself the sire of 26 champions; Ch. Solivia’s Baby Bunting, the dam of 13 champions; Ch. Solivia’s Briarpatch Bunny; Am./Int. Ch. Solivia’s Maid of Cotton, CGC; and many others. Another great Solivia dog is Am./Braz./Mex./Int. Ch. Onsage Marquetry of Solivia, a top international show dog and sire.
Four-time national specialty winner, Ch. Jason of Kinnike won eight BIS awards during his career, which spanned most of the 1980s. He won his first BIS at 14 months of age and his last specialty from the Veterans Class at 8 years old. The historical wins of Ch. Cumbrian Black Pearl, setting a new BIS record for Pointers with 22 all-breed shows, took place in 1984, when she was the number-one Sporting Dog and number-three all-breeds. On her way to the record, she won 84 Groups.
Ch. Bee Serious Kinsman, BOB at Westminster in 2000, handled by Peter Green. Judge, Houston Clark.
In 1986 Ch. Marjetta National Acclaim won the prestigious BIS award at Westminster. In all, he won 19 BIS awards and became the breed’s top sire with 107 champion offspring. “Deputy,” as he was called, left his mark on many winning kennels, including Ablearm, Bee Serious, Tahari, Coralwood, Paladen and others. While we’re talking about top producers, we must acknowledge two top-producing dams, Deputy’s mom, Ch. Truewithem A Taste of Triumph, dam of 29 champion get, and the reigning top-producing dam Ch. Sydmar the Heartless Wench (Blair), who produced 31 champions in just 4 litters. Her progeny include five BIS and two specialty winners, and she has herself won many prestigious classes.
Den and Elsa Lawler began their Bee Serious Pointers in 1985 with Ch. Marjetta Kountry Music, bred by Glen Boyer and Marjorie Martorella. She produced eight champion progeny. In the early 1990s, the Lawlers had great success with the BIS-winning bitch Ch. Marjetta Reatta of Kintyre, bred by Marjorie Martorella, handled by co-owner Cindy Lane. Then came along “Elliott” in 1996: formally Ch. Albelarm’s Bee Serious, bred by Mrs. Alan Robson and Michael Zollo, presented by Peter Green and co-owned with Judy