Winner of the 2006 National Championship
Shell Creek Coin
Owned by R. W. "Bud" Moore
and Handled by Steve Hurdle
Shell Creek Coin, pointer male, owned by
Robert W. “Bud” Moore of Catherine, Alabama, is the newly
crowned 2006 National Champion. Coin was handled by Steve Hurdle
and scouted by Billy Wayne Morton, both of Catherine, Alabama.
Coin was whelped in the 7th month of 2003, ran in the 7th
brace
of the 107th running of the National Championship. The
combination of those 3 – 7’s and 8 perfect finds during his
3-hour performance, with a strong forward race, secured this
year’s championship for the young dog.
Shell Creek Coin initially qualified for the National
Championship with a win in the National Derby Championship in
January 2005 and a win in the Tootsie Hurdle Open All-Age during
December 2005. Coin placed second in both the Dixie Open All-Age
and the Black Belt Open All-Age during the 2005-06 season.
Steve Hurdle, stricken with a ruptured aorta about an hour after
the announcement that he was the winning handler of the 2006
National Championship, continues to improve after a lengthy
surgery that can only be described as a miracle. With most of
the awards ceremony completed and only a few pictures remaining,
Steve, with his family and Bud Moore, owner of the winning dog
“Shell Creek Coin”, fell to the ground clutching his chest.
Paramedics, Greg Tapp and Sam McKnight along with Libby
McKnight, Family Nurse Practitioner, rendered assistance as 911
was called and a ground ambulance dispatched as well as a
helicopter from Memphis. Steve was transported to Baptist
Memorial Hospital-Memphis via Wings, where he was diagnosed with
a ruptured aorta. After an 8½-hour surgery utilizing over 24
units of blood with thousands of prayers, Steve has survived to
be reunited with his wife Karen and their daughters. Steve’s recuperation will
continue in the Memphis area till the later part of March before
returning to his Catherine, Alabama home.