[Ted Shih]

A number of FT have given some thought to having the Derby start on Friday and the Qualifying start on Saturday. The underlying assumption is that the Derby is pro-populated and that the Qualifying is - or should be - mostly Amateur populated.

What do you think? And why?

 

[Lisa Van Loo]

50/50, so far.

This seems to be kind of a regional thing. When I was in CA, Derby started on Friday, Q on Saturday, almost exclusively. Here in the NE, the reverse is true. Kinda weird.

I like Saturday starts for the Q, because I am a working stiff. As a club member, though, I gotta say that having three stakes with at least a triple each all firing up at 8:00 AM Saturday is brutal to get going.

Lisa

 

[Shayne Mehringer]

I'd be interested to see the AM/Pro ratios for Derby and Q. Are we sure the Derby is more "pro populated" than the Q? I've always thought it was the other way around.

If you have an O/H Q... i suppose it would be in your best interest to start on Saturday.

Shayne

 

[Gerard Rozas]

Several years ago I would of voted for the Q starting on Saturday to allow local MH dogs to run on the weekend. Don't know if that holds as much weight now. More and more HT people start pups now with playing the Derby in mind. I would always like to see a mix so that the participants would have a choice. Same thing for O/H Q. I would not begruge a club for having one or not having one. But if a club elects to have a O/H Q starting on Saturday, and there are 45 entries - I think that would send a clear message. If there are 12 entries - that would also send a message. Until a few clubs run them, we don't have enough info. But I think every area of the country and the local retriever community that supports that club should have to right to structure their event to fit their needs.

 

[Shayne Mehringer]

From a logistics standpoint... managing the Q at the same time as the Open on Friday is easier than doing it while the Open and AM are both running on Saturday. The derby is easier to manage with the two other stakes going.

Shayne

 

[South Bay]

50/50, so far.

This seems to be kind of a regional thing. When I was in CA, Derby started on Friday, Q on Saturday, almost exclusively. Here in the NE, the reverse is true. Kinda weird.

I like Saturday starts for the Q, because I am a working stiff. As a club member, though, I gotta say that having three stakes with at least a triple each all firing up at 8:00 AM Saturday is brutal to get going.

Lisa

I'm a "working Stiff" also who chairs 3 trials a year, I find that more members & Amateurs run the Qual and their help is needed on Friday. I prefer to start the Q on Friday when hired and volunteer help is hard to find.

 

[ErinsEdge]

I think the Q starting on Saturday will attract more dogs. I think with pro participation, it seems to depend on the region and pros. Sometimes there aren't too many pros in the Q and sometimes there are a bunch but many have younger dogs so they may or may not be competitive. Sometimes talented dogs skip the Q.

 

[fnsret]

The Q

Being an X pro I used to run the Q on Friday with no problem, the Derby on Sat with no problem. Now, with the Q being on Friday I had to sit out a year because I worked on Friday and couldn't run the Q or the Open and I couldn't run the Am. because it had not been a year since I recieved money for training. I think the numbers of the Q will go up with the Q being on Sat.

Lee

 

[Anthony Heath]

I like the Q to start on Sat. That is definately advantageous for the 1 dog Am just getting into the game. Generally you will have more of those in the Q verses the Derby.

 

[Starky]

Being an amatuer, a working stiff, not able to run 15 to 20 stakes a year, some of us might want to run our dog in the Q for 2 or 3 years before we think our dog is ready to advance to amatuer or open. Could add up to large number of vacation days. With the derby your done in a year and if your dog is good you might use all your vacation days in that year to run him.

 

[Shayne Mehringer]

Being an amatuer, a working stiff, not able to run 15 to 20 stakes a year, some of us might want to run our dog in the Q for 2 or 3 years before we think our dog is ready to advance to amatuer or open. Could add up to large number of vacation days. With the derby your done in a year and if your dog is good you might use all your vacation days in that year to run him.

VERY GOOD POINT! The working guy wanting to run the derby or qual would only have to put up with Fridays for a year or so in the derby... while he may spend multiple years in the Q.

Shayne

 

[AmiableLabs]

I like the Q to start on Sat. That is definately advantageous for the 1 dog Am just getting into the game. Generally you will have more of those in the Q verses the Derby.

Ditto.

 

[Steve]

Around this area, there is a split with some clubs doing Fri and others doing Sat. The benefit of a Friday derby is that it lets the young dog's run instead of sitting around for the day.

 

[john fallon]

My week is made up of nothing but Saturdays :lol:
john

 

[Doug Main]

Traditionally, in our area the Qual started on Friday and the Derby on Sat.

Several clubs including my own have experimented with starting the Qual on Sat. and the Derby on Fri.

From talking to several involved, this is what we have observed:

1 - The numbers of dogs entered in the Quals starting on Sat. are significantly increased.

2. - The derby entries do not seem to be affected. Seems if they have a derby dog they are going to run it regardless of when it starts.

3. - It is easier to get a derby done in 1 day than a Qual. And if you don't it is takes less time to run a last series in the derby than the Qual.

4. - Clubs often have less help available on Friday than Sat. - It takes less help to run a Derby than a Qual.

5. - The pros hate it. - The last thing they want is to be sitting around after the open finishes waiting to run a dog in the Qual.

Even thought there seems to be ample reason for change - Tradition wins out.

 

[Chris Kingrea]

I agree with Shayne that logistically, the Q is easier on the CLUBS to start on Friday, before the Am. Plus for a small trial, it gives the club the opportunity to possibly have 2 sets of judges, instead of 3 or 4. In the end the club is the one that puts on the trial, so whatever's easiest for the members and/or help will win out.

If it's important enough for someone to run, they'll take vacation if they need to. Me being a shift worker who works at least 2 Fri, Sat, and Suns every month, all 3 days affect me. I get to burn most of my vacation days to run trials. But that's OK, because I want to be there bad enough.

Priorities. :?


P.S. I voted to keep it the way it is, Q on Fri.

 

[paul young]

our club (shoreline) starts the Q on saturday. we feel it's more amateur friendly, and as has been pointed out, the pros have a large chunk of the derby dogs and are there on friday for the open anyway.-paul

 

[Uncle Bill]

Ted,

I didn't vote, as it has little to do with me. But for small markets, when we used to run Field Trials, like Chris stated, we had the Open and Derby judged by the same pair, as were the Qual and the Am. So we started the Qual and Open on Fridays. It would be easier on the help, to do the less demanding Derby and Open the same day. But the Am was almost as demanding on the help as the Open it seemed.

It was also felt that more amateurs ran both the Qual and AM, so running them the same time seemed dicey for the players.

UB

 

[John Gassner]

I am glad that in this part of the midwest it is mixed up pretty evenly on which minor stake starts on Friday. This way if you work on Fridays, you can run several trials whether you have a Derby dog or a Q dog. There are pros and cons to each as far as mechanics.

John