On November 28th and 29th, 2016, Blingel, in the French region
of Pas de Calais, was the stage for the ninth FCI European Cup for Spaniels.
France, who was in charge of organising an event that rallied five nations around
those hunting breeds, more than lived up to the expectations.
The national breed club had not been willing organise the event; things were thus
taken charge of by the Société Centrale Canine. A brilliant and first-class event
that set very high standards for the future editions.
The FCI was part of it, too: Mr Yves De Clercq had been so kind as to accept our
invitation and allow us to introduce him to our discipline otherwise than through
fairly intricate sets of rules. It was a great honour for us to welcome him. I wish
to thank him for his kindness, his availability, and the interest shown all along
the dogs' runs, too.
We were welcomed by Mr and Mrs Pâque in the prestigious setting of their stud farm
in Blingel; on their request, the fantastic hunting grounds up close had been made
available for the occasion.
Some hunting license holders took part in the event in person and escorted us on the grounds
to act as official gunmen in the competition. All these people have contributed
to setting very high standards in this edition of the European Cup, both from an
organisational point of view and as far as the site and fields were concerned.
Over those two days, the atmosphere amongst the attending nations was one of remarkable
sportsmanship, sharing and friendliness. Spain, who had missed the event in the
last few years, joined us on this ninth edition with a high-grade team; the customary
teams were most happy to greet our Southern friends, whose kindness and sportsmanship
won the same unanimous support as always, despite their accumulating a lot of bad
luck on the fields.
For two days, the prevailing dogs thus went head to head on extremely challenging
fields considering the game densities.
The 2016 Cup was a risk-bearing competition. Numerous dogs committed fouls, either
for lack of wisdom, or for missing game. The fields were ideally suited for Spaniels.
There, we could feast our eyes on the achievements of the current best and most
typical dogs, which would search the undergrowth in order to drive the well-concealed
birds out of hiding, make them take wing and leave none behind.
A perilous exercise in which a number of dogs got side-tracked by first-class wild
game.
It is a euphemism to say that the French competitors played their cards right: they
made a clean sweep off!
France won in Cocker and Springer both in teams and in individuals.
Italy was declared Vice-Champion of the European Cup in Cocker, and Belgium ranked
Vice-Champion of the European Cup in Springer.
The Netherlands rose to the third position in Cocker, and Italy in Springer.
The title of European Vice-Champion goes to Bishwell Scooby in Cocker Individual
and to Nitro of Glharama in Springer Individual – both dogs belong to the French
team.
This edition of the European Cup is to be told about in nothing if not superlatives...
Such top quality simply had to spell high stakes.
Acknowledgements are customary in the context of such events; however, I would hate
to get lengthy... or forget anybody! So please allow me give heartfelt thanks to
the very many passionate people who got directly or indirectly involved, and who
helped make this edition of the European Cup a near-perfect event.
Isabelle Ley
FCI Delegate for Belgium
Pictures and results are featured on the European Cup website: www.european-cup-spaniels.com