105th Running of the Nat'l Championship
February 9 - 25,2004
The 105th Running of the National
Championship for all-age field trial bird dogs began with the
drawing on February 7, 2004 and was memorable not only for the
competition but also the weather. Forty dogs
were nominated and drawn to start Monday, February 9th. Miller’s
Excel died in his home kennel 5 days after the drawing and was
therefore scratched from competition leaving 39 dogs to compete
for the title. The final brace was completed by noon on
Wednesday, February 25th. Weather conditions this year typified
“hard core” field trial weather. It started with snow and ice,
warmed up to the mid-40’s with a little rain, and then snowed 8
inches on the middle Sunday postponing the trial for 2 ½ days
before it ended with a little more rain and cold, overcast
conditions.
The winner of the Joe H. Hurdle Top Dog Award was Bodacious
Boone, owned by Drs. Barry Gray, Alex Jacocks, and Robert
Rankin, all from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Allen Vincent handled
Bodacious Boone during his year of competition and secured 1770
points to claim the title.
The winner of the 2004 National Championship was Miller’s
Online, pointer male, owned by Chip McEwen and T. E. Browning of
Alva, Florida and Mike Furney of Panama City Beach, Florida and
handled by Rick Furney. Miller’s Online ran in the 2nd brace on
Monday of the first week under declining weather conditions,
recording 4 finds and an excellent ground race during his 3 hour
performance in the 1st series. Miller’s Online and Broadway
Silver Belle were called back for a 2nd series to determine the
champion. In a head to head battle on the afternoon field trial
course, Miller’s Online scored 3 perfect finds with an
exceptional ground race in the 42-minute call back to claim the
2004 National Championship.